


The Tale of Jordan Frye and Jimmy Casket

by Castilight



Category: Acachalla Family, Paranormal Investigators Extraordinaire, VenturianTale
Genre: Gen, Mild/Moderate Gore and Blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-09-09 00:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 29,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8868292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Castilight/pseuds/Castilight
Summary: Jimmy Casket has gotten bored of the Gmod world and has crossed over to the real world, where he has possessed his creator, Jordan Frye, aka, Venturian. His siblings, Cierra, Bethany, and Isaac have no idea what's going on. Until a few more people decide to visit...





	1. Blowhorns and Nerf Guns

It was cold. The air was tense. The dead body of a young woman was found stabbed to death. The police have almost cleared the area and were ready to retrieve the body for an autopsy. It was risky business because the body had been stabbed so many times, the head and limbs were fragile. As the rookie officer and forensic specialist prepared the body, someone was waiting above them on a darkened window sill. His jeans and blue hoodie were soaked in blood, making reddish purple splotches on the cheap blue hoodie, with a red triangle and a yellow V over it. His knife was covered with crimson, much like his eyes. He had blood red eyes with only tiny black specs for pupils and dark brown hair, somewhat concealing the monster behind them. The murderer released a maniacal laugh, scaring each of them. He jumps down from the sill with an usual mixture of bluntness and grace, his knife clearly shining in the moonlight. “Hello!” The madman greets with an eerie smile, “Do you like what I did? It was a lot of fun to do!” The cop got in front of the unarmed forensic specialist and tried to whip out her gun but, with inhuman speed, the psychopath stabbed the officer before she could shoot. He turned around to see that the bystander was running for it. He smiled, breaking out into laughter. “Running won't help you! Don't you know that running only makes it more fun for me?” He chases after the forensics expert, backing him into another dark alley, with the madman blocking the way. The poor guy had no way out. “Come on! Don't you want to know my secret?” His to-be victim, shook his head. “Are you sure? It's a good one!” Before he can respond again, he was stabbed in the side. HomelessGoomba fell to the ground.  
Jimmy Casket won this round. 

\--

The computer screen flashed the results of the murderer winning again. With his siblings whining in the background, Venturian turned to the camera, “That, is all for this time. If you enjoyed this video of us bringing back the game of Muuuurder and me dominating the game like in old times, leave a like, leave a comment, and we’ll see you, next time.” He gave his classic salute and ended the recording.

“Man! That was fun!” Issac cheered.

“Yeah,” Cierra agreed, “No wonder our fans wanted this back.”

“It's like nothing changed.” HomelessGoomba smiled, “Including Bethany’s ability to die first.”

“Hey!” The ginger snapped, “I'm just out of practice.”

“Sure you are.” Jordan laughs, “Anyways, let’s go to the kitchen. I'm getting kinda hungry.”

“Same here,” Isaac agreed. Venturian ended the Skype call, closed Gmod, and got up. As he did, he heard a shrill, high-pitched laughter, startling him. _“Thank you for bringing me back. I promise I'll return the favor.”_ Jordan looked around his room, wondering where the voice had come from. With caution in mind, he grabbed a plastic lightsaber and opened the door. When he did, a blow horn was blasted in his face. It was his youngest sibling, Isaac.

It scared the life out of Venturian. “Not cool, dude!” Jordan snapped. Without warning, he grabbed blow horn out of his brother’s hand and blew it in his face, each of them bursting into laughter. Issac started running up the stairs to the ground floor with Jordan not far behind. Bethany and Cierra were seated in the living room, eating pizza, while watching their oldest and youngest siblings chase each other around. Eventually, Venturian catches up and they begin to wrestle.

Bethany crossed her arms, trying very hard to hold back a smile. “Can you stop it? You guys are acting like little kids.”

Their eldest brother puts Issac in a headlock. “What's the fun in that?” Jordan jokes as his brother tries to squirm out of the headlock. “That may have worked when we were 8 and 15 but, it's been 10 years. You're not getting out as easy as that.”

In their distraction, Cierra winks at her younger sister and they turn to their brothers. The Frye sisters pull out Nerf guns from behind their backs and fire at them. Jordan lets go of Issac and they retreat to grab their own weapons. In the chaos and fun, Venturian had completely forgot about the voice he heard in his room. It wouldn't belong before he was reminded of it again.


	2. Lies and Secrets

“How could've it ended like that!?” Issac complained, “We so had them!”

“Obviously, we didn't. If we pressed on, we would've been shot with paintball guns.” Jordan said.  


“We would've been fine if you didn't surrender.”  


Venturian looked at his brother in disbelief. “Do you not remember what happened last time we had a paintball fight with Cierra and Bethany?” He rolled up the sleeve of his hoodie to show the nasty welt on his right arm. “It's been two months and we still have marks!”  


HomelessGoomba winced in pain at the memory of those 3 paintball pellets that were fired little too close to his manhood. Bethany was always a lousy shot. Luckily, no so bad a shot that he ended up neutered. “You had to bring that up, didn't you? I was really close to forgetting that.”  


Jordan laughed. “One cannot simply forget such pain.”  


“Whatever,” Isaac rolls his eyes, “I'm going to head upstairs and play some video games.”  


“Okay,” Venturian shrugged, “I’ll go to my room too. Don't get shot, Homeless.”  


“Right back at you!” His brother grinned. Jordan got up and headed for his room. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he slammed his body onto the bed. It may have only been one in the afternoon, but he was already exhausted. He looked at his laptop and smiled. Venturian managed to pull himself off his bed and open his editing program. As he started putting together the video, Jordan couldn't help but smile. He was only 25 years old, had an amazing family and awesome YouTube community that seemed to support him and his siblings no matter what. He couldn't ask for anything else. When Jordan finished editing and publishing the video, he let himself fall into the bed again. He took a deep breath, savoring the sweet breaths given to him. As tired as he was, in that moment, Jordan David Frye felt like the luckiest person in the world. In his happy thoughts, he dozed off to sleep.

\--

Jordan was still fast asleep when Isaac, Cierra, and, Bethany ordered pizza for the third night in a row. Venturian had me been taking a lot of late power naps lately so, none of them were that concerned. “One of these days, were going to go broke on how much food we order.” Bethany laughed.  


“Oh please! We get 19 grand on a bad month. I think we're going to be fine for a while.” Isaac shrugged. In their laughter, HomelessGoomba noticed that Cierra was a little quiet. She was staring at the stairwell to the basement.“Is everything okay?” he asked.  


The question snapped ImmortalKyodai out of her haze. “Huh? Oh! Uh, yeah. Just a little concerned about Jordan. It's been hard for him to focus lately.”  


“That's why we've been doing a few videos on our own.” Bethany reminded her sister.  


“I know. I know,” Cierra said, “Even though he doesn't want me to worry about him because he's the ‘big brother’ and he's supposed to provide for us, I still do worry about him. He's been taking on a lot of big projects lately and the channel is only getting bigger, especially since we decided to cut back on the FNAF stuff. I just don't want him to feel like he has to do everything on our channel because he's the leader of Venturiantale.”  


BethanyFrye sighed, all too aware of her older sister’s feelings. “Trust me. Isaac and I have had our fair share of worrying about Jordan-,”  


“We have?” HomelessGoomba joked.  


Bethany elbowed the only younger sibling. “Isaac!” She snapped.  


“Kidding!” He defensively puts his hands up.  


Bethany grumbles at Isaac before turning back to Cierra. “But, that's why the channel is called ‘VenturianTALE’ instead of ‘Venturian’. Jordan may be the leader but, he's not alone. We have his back as he has ours. He’ll ask for help if he needs it and we'll be more than happy to do so. Sometimes even when he doesn't want our help.” That last comment brought a smile and a chuckle to ImmortalKyodai’s lips.  


“How about we live up to that.” Isaac suggested, “If he doesn't come out in an hour or so, we check up on Jordan and help him wether he likes it or not. Sounds good?”  


Cierra nodded. “Thank you.” She laughed to herself. “I thought I was supposed to help you guys with your problems.”  


“Nope!” Isaac beamed, “That's not how it works! The four of us are stuck with each other and our weirdly awesome quirks!” Isaac pulls his sisters into a group hug. “Now, it is time for the TROLLMASTER to kick your butts at some good ol’ Halo!” He leaped up from the couch and put Halo 3 into the console.  


“Oh, you wish!” ImmortalKyodai taunted, grabbing the nearest controller. “Someone’s a little rusty.”  


“And I'm still probably better than you and Bethany combined.” HomelessGoomba bragged.  


"Oh, it’s SO on!” BethanyFrye growled, snapping the controller out of her brother’s hand. As HomelessGoomba, ImmortalKyodai, and BethanyFrye, played upstairs, they all keep in mind the little promise to check up on Venturian. 

Venturian was calmly asleep when he felt a cold breeze brush over his cheek. He wasn't too bothered by it. The room was sometimes a little drafty. It was nice. Jordan tried to fall back into a deep sleep because he was so comfy. Eventually, he gave up and got out of bed. When his feet landed on the soft carpet, he felt an ice cold grip grab onto his ankle. Without any thought, Jordan jumps away from his bed, falling back in the process. Venturian tried to clear his head and looked at his bed, trying to understand what just happened. There was nothing from where could see. Jordan grabbed his plastic lightsaber, desperate for something to defend himself with. His hands shook with the toy in his hands as he approached the bed. He jumped onto the bed, avoiding the bottom part. With his heart ready to beat out of his chest, Jordan looked under the bed. For a moment it was dark. Only a moment. A pair of red eyes flashed to life, causing Venturian to jump out of his skin. All Jordan saw next was a flash of iron come directly for his face. The intruder was too fast for him to dodge. The attacker managed to slash Jordan under his left eye, making him crouch back onto his bed and cover the wound. Venturian grit his teeth and covered the slit. The attacker got out from under the bed. When Jordan could see him in full view, chills ran down his spine. They were identical. Each shared the same features of the other. Same face. Same height. The only differences between them were that the ‘clone’ was stained with blood and had crimson eyes.  


Jordan couldn't look away. It was like looking into a mirror after killing someone. Any pain from before was forgotten. “Wh- who are you?” he managed to stutter out.  


The bloodstained twin was genuinely surprised and confused at Venturian’s reaction? “You don't know who I am?” he asked, in that stomach churning voice, followed by a laugh equally as disturbing. “You created me! How can you not recognize your own character?”  


Jordan furrowed his brow before his eyes widened in disbelief, recognition, and fear. “J- Jimmy?”  


The murderer’s smile grew to an unnatural size. “That's exactly right! Jimmy Casket here!”  


Venturian backed up to the wall on his bed. “What do you want with me?!”  


The psychopath cackled again. “Don't you worry. I'm not here to kill you.” Casket slit his left hand, causing Jordan to let out a small whimper as if the pain was his own. “But, I am here to kill. In the world you made me in, in Gmod, people don't stay dead. They always return. While it may provide and ‘infinite supply’, it becomes boring after a while to see the people you kill back on the streets like nothing happened. In this world, on the other hand, not only do people not return to the land of the living after they pass on, one can also see the life slip out of a body. Two beautiful things I could never get from a Gmod avatar.” The madman lifted Jordan's chin, looking him in the eye with a horrifying smile. “There is one problem though. I am technically, only a character. An entity without a body to carry out my bloodlustful desires. So, I need someone of this world to tie myself to. The best option is my creator, saying we are the most alike. So, you! Congratulations!”  


Venturian was horrified by what he was hearing. “I am not like you.”  


Jimmy giggled, “It’s so funny how wrong you are. You created me! So we must be alike.”  


Jordan’s fists were clenched. His patience was running thin. “I made you for a game in Gmod,” he spat, standing up to face his character, “The only reason you're back, instead of staying in Gravity Falls, is because the fellow adventurers wanted you back! **You are nothing but a figment of my imagination!”**  


For a moment it looked like Jimmy Casket wouldn't say another word but then, he cracked another smile. “You see, Jordan Frye, that's where you're wrong. You see, just the fact that you were able to create me shows that there is a little psychopath in you. Now, this little psycho wants to play in the Zero World. I need Venturian to host for this crazy parasite. I broke the fourth wall for a reason and I'm not going back until someone makes me!” He screeched.  


Zero World? Breaking the fourth wall?What does that mean? For now, Jordan ignored these questions. Casket lunged himself at Venturian. Jordan managed to dodge it but, he lost his footing, unlike his attacker. He landed solidly on the floor and pushed off of a dresser to give himself momentum. When Jordan got his footing again, he saw Jimmy running straight for him. Venturian grabbed the lightsaber and pulled it out to block him. The block caused the madman to run right into it, knocking the fight out of him. The psychopath wheezed for air while he was on his hands and knees. At the sight of the weakened Casket, Jordan’s body relaxed a bit. His protective, brotherly instinct took over. He walked over to Jimmy to see if he was alright. Even though he was trying to hurt him, Jordan was still kind and merciful to the madman. But, doesn't mean that he'll return the favor. In a quick snap, Jimmy turned his head to make eye contract with Jordan, throwing him off guard. Then, Casket placed his slit hand on Jordan cut, paralyzing Venturian. The psychopath’s avatar began to flow as pixels into Venturian’s cut. Before he was completely gone, Jimmy Casket’s smile was from ear to ear, quite literally. “Greeting fellow adventurers,” the psychopath said, “This is Jimmy Casket with Venturian here for this oh-so fun ride of secrets.” With those final words, he was gone. Jordan felt relieved. Until he looked at his left hand. There was a diagonal slit following one of the lines on his hand. His heart fell to the floor. Jordan Frye was possessed by Jimmy Casket.  


After his realization, he heard a knocking at the door. “We're coming in,” a voice announced. When the door opened, his three siblings stood in the doorway. Venturian was sitting on the floor with his room being an even bigger mess than normal.  


Cierra saw her older brother’s cuts, she immediately ran to him, with Bethany and Isaac right behind her. “Oh my god!” Cierra cried, “What happened?”  


He was silent for a moment. Jordan knew that if he told them what had really happened, they'd never believe him. As much as he hated to, he had to lie to his siblings. “The room’s kinda dark so, I tripped over a few things and nicked myself on a few things.”  


“From the look of this room and yourself, it looks you nicked yourself on more that just ‘a few things’.” Issac said. He was right. Jordan looked pretty beat up. He had a few bruises on his arms and legs, making his condition look worse.  


“What he got himself hurt with is irrelevant,” Bethany said, “What Jordan needs right now is a first aid kit.” She ran out of the room to get one.  


In the mean time, Cierra was examining some of Jordan’s wounds. When she found the slit on his left hand, she became concerned. She knew her brother was right-handed but, would he really do that? “Jordan,” Venturian looked up at his sister, “This is a very serious question and I need you to answer me honestly.” ImmortalKyodai’s voice was a little shaky, “Did you do this to-,”  


“No!” Jordan interrupted. In that moment, he realized he responded way to fast. “I- I mean times have been a bit stressful but, I've been enjoying it. I couldn't do that to myself even if I had a reason to!” That wasn't a lie. He had been fairly happy and it was technically Jimmy who cut him.  


Cierra was still suspicious. “You promise?”  


“On my life.” Jordan swears. She loosened up a little at his promise. Bethany bursted through the door and starts treating his wounds. Cierra and Isaac joined in as Jordan’s mind dozed off into nowhere. That's when he noticed a shine of iron under his bed. It was a knife. Jimmy Casket’s knife. Venturian knew that Casket was not kidding. This is going to be one an insane ride of lies and secrets.


	3. Ghost and Toast

From the moment he woke up, Johnny Ghost, Paranormal Investigator Extraordinaire, knew something was off. First of all, his night was peaceful and dreamless. More specifically, he had no nightmares. When the fogginess of sleep wore off a bit, he noticed something was missing. Not from his bedroom but, inside him. It left like a heavy weight was lifted off his shoulders. A sinking feeling quickly took its place when he realized why he felt this way. Johnny jumped out of bed and barged into the next room. There his partner and employee, Johnny Toast was rudely awoken by the break in. “For the hundredth time,” Toast nagged Ghost in a thick British accent. “Please knock before you-,”  


“Casket’s gone.”  


That woke Toast up real good. He fully took off his sleeping mask and got out of bed. “Gone? What do you mean gone?!”  


“I don't feel him anymore!”  


“Could it just be that he finally… died?”  


“No, no. According to Venturian, Jimmy is one of the most popular characters on his…” Ghost snapped his fingers trying to remember a term, “Oh, what's that platform called? The one that connects this world to the ‘reality’?”  


“Channel?” Toast guessed.  


“Yes! That's it! I really need to brush back up on my YouTube terminology. Besides the point! Someone with that much popularity can't just vanish. It'd have to be someone more like Sue or something for that to happen.”  


“Yeah…” The two Johnnys stood there in thought. Trying to come up with anything as quickly as they could.  


The ghost hunter realized something. That realization filled him with dread. “Oh no…”  


“What?”  


Ghost looked Toast in the eye. “What if he's not on this plane anymore?” he asked, “What if he passed it?”  


The idea scared them both. If Jimmy could move in between dimensions without a host such as Johnny Ghost, that would only spell out trouble and problems for so many innocent people. Toast shook that hideous image out of his head. “Let’s not jump to any rash conclusions. How about we check to see if anyone else knows where he might be.”  


Ghost was beginning to panic. “If I don't know here Jimmy Casket is, nobody else is going to know!”  


Johnny Toast may have loved his boss like a brother but, he can be a pain in the neck when he wants to be. “Well, it's impossible if we don't try! The worse this will do keep their eyes open for Casket.” He picks up a nearby phone. “Ring, ring.” Toast imitated. The call was sent across several maps over to the map House with Garden 3, where he most chaotic family ever lived. The Acachalla family. 

\--

Running, screaming, and the occasional Davy Crocket nuclear warhead. This is just another normal day for the Acachallas. Billy Acachalla ran around the house, and a little off the map, while Mama Gertrude was trying to keep him and his sister, Sally, under control. For Sally, all Gertrude had to do was give her a serving of waffles. With that, Sally sat by her father, Papa Acachalla, gleefully eating her 7th serving this morning. A nearby phone goes off and Sally snatched it to her ear. “Hello?” The seventeen year old asked in the voice of a toddler. She nods. “Uh, huh? Okay!” Sally hands the phone to her dad. “Papa, it’s for you.”  


“Tell ‘em I'm busy!” He snaps in a gruff Kentucky accent.  


“My papa’s busy.” She tells the caller. Sally looks back at Papa, “He said ‘Sir, watching TV isn't busy. I can hear you over the phone.’.”  


He grumbled, sat up, and snatched the phone out of her hands. “Johnny Toast, I swear to Venturiantale, if this has anything to do with me or Jose Jose Jose Jose, I want nothing to do with it!”  


On the other end, Toast was trying to keep Ghost from taking the phone from him. “Don't worry. We were unable to tie up that case. We just here to ask about-,”  


“Goodbye.” Papa interrupted, slamming the phone off. He fell back into the couch. For a minute, it looked like they weren't going to push it. Until it rang again. By now, he was fuming. “What do you want?”  


Now it was Johnny Ghost on the line. “Hey, just because that case is closed, doesn't mean we can't reopen it and find something.” The Kentucky man became uncomfortable, “But, I'll being willing to turn a blind eye for now. All you have to do is cooperate, capeesh?” Papa grunted. “Good, now, we just need to know if you've seen Jimmy Casket. Have you?”  


“Nope. I thought you handled him?”  


Ghost went silent. “Well,” he started, “I don't know where he is anymore.”  


Papa Acachalla got out of his seat; something he rarely did unless he had to. “You're tellin’ me that Jimmy Casket, a deranged murderer, is missin’?! How could you let that happen?! Do you realize what that means?! If that annoying idiot gets into a dimension where people don't come back from the dead, so many lives are at risk!”  


“We don't know if he has gone into another dimension.” Ghost corrected.  


“How the heck could it be anythin’ else?” Johnny Ghost went silent and sunk down into the nearest seat. Papa Acachalla was right. Casket can only haunt from the same dimension and knowing the madman, he wouldn't just stop unless he'd gone somewhere else.  


“Where could he have gone?” Ghost wondered. “We have to figure out-,”  


“We?” Papa interrupted, “Papa Acachalla will have nothing to do with this. Now if you'll excuse me...”  


“No!” Ghost snaps, “You will not ‘be excused’ if Casket found his way back to the Zero World, we’re all in grave dang-,” he stopped. No. No no no no no! Not there! Anywhere but there! “I gotta go. I'll call you if I need your help.”  


“And I'll say no.”  


“Absolutely not,” Papa stiffened. The only person who could reject his commands so confidently would be his wife, Gertrude. “If my suspicions are correct, we could all die with our creators, especially the Venturian-made. Including you. So, if I call again, you will help me, understand?”  


“Understood.” Although he didn't like it, he couldn't let the creators fall. Though he didn't act like it, he was a family man and he wasn't going to leave them behind, no matter how many times he said he would.  


Ghost hung up. “You think Jimmy went to the Zero World? Venturiantale’s home?” Toast asked.  


His boss nodded. “Yeah. Everybody knows that Jimmy Casket is a different entity than us. Unlike us, he existed before he was named or ever brought to the screen. He has knowledge of Jordan that we barely have. It would be easier for him to get past the wall saying that he only used my body instead of actually having it.”  


Toast had doubts that his partner was right. “But what if that's wrong? It would take months to break the wall, let alone pass though it. I mean, if Venturiantale knew everything about this, they probably could help us out but, the creators don't know that we're more than characters they made. Plus, we can't tell them about our reality because they take over when they're online. There is also an infinite amount of other dimensions-,”  


Ghost sprung up from his seat. “Oh, please! Tell me one time when I've been wrong before.”  


Toast clicked his tongue. “Well, there was that time when-,”  


“That was rhetorical,” His partner interrupted, “In all seriousness, my gut is screaming at me. Since Jimmy has left, I have not felt more clear about my choices. Please, if you have never trusted me before, trust me on this.”  


Toast could not resist Ghost’s beg. He bows his head in defeat. “Fine. I'll trust you.” With that permission, Ghost gathered some possible plans to break the fourth wall and meet Venturiantale. They knew it was dangerous work but, Paranormal Investors Extraordinaire, or P.I.E. for short, knew they had to do it for both this world’s sake and the one Casket decided to wreck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:  
> Please let me know what you think of my work. I really want to grow as a writer!


	4. Dreams and Numb Feet

It's been a week since Casket decided to become a part of Venturian's life. In the day, Jimmy Casket was practically nonexistent. Jordan could edit videos and do whatever without his disturbance. It was at night when the fun began. The nightmares were always a little different every night but, they always ended in one of his siblings getting hurt. This time, it was raining. Venturian was running through a maze, hearing Jimmy Casket’s laughter not far behind him. His laughing motivated him to run more. Eventually Jordan hit a dead end and turned around, seeing Casket soaked in a mix of rain and blood. As he approached, Venturian backed into the dead end, terrified. His murderous twin came so close, Jordan could smell the metallic scent of fresh blood on him. Venturian tried to shove Jimmy away from him but, the madman wouldn't budge. All the psychopath did in response was grin and say, “What’s the matter? Isn't this a fun secret to keep?”  


Jordan ignored his question. “Why are you doing this?” he asked.  


Casket gripped his nails into Venturian’s jaw. “What makes you think you're in any position to ask questions?” The psychopath dug the knife into Jordan’s shoulder, causing the YouTuber to let out a whimper of pain. “Now, it’s time to play.” With those words, he awoke. Relief washed over him. It looked like Casket was in a nice mood. Jordan went into the bathroom to clear his head. That's when he saw it. Venturian could clearly see the cut on his shoulder, provided to him by Casket. Then he saw his eyes. Jordan's eyes were a swirled mix of brown and red. The YouTuber’s left hand began to twitch. Jordan knew that he was losing control of himself. This wasn't the end of the nightmare. Of course. During the past week, it always ended in one of his siblings about to get killed. Why would now be any different? Jordan had to fight a smile that Casket was trying to plaster on his face as he looked at his reflection. Venturian looked away, gripping the bathroom counter until he was white-knuckled. Finally, he gave in. It was only a dream, right? He can't actually hurt Isaac, Cierra, or Bethany in a dream. Casket looked up to reveal the red that dominated his eyes. Despite being able to see everything, Jordan was no longer in control. The maddening smile took over as the madman sprinted back to his room and grabbed something under the bed. There Knifey was, waiting to be used. Jimmy grabbed it and headed to the second floor. The madman snuck into Bethany’s room and came to her bed. In a high pitched, raspy voice, he whispered, “Do you want to know my secret?”  


Since BethanyFrye didn't have her glasses on and was barely awake, she opened one eye and said, “Very funny, Jordan. It's the middle of the night. Go back to sleep.”  


Casket was disappointed by Bethany’s calm reaction. “But it's a really good secret!” He insisted, “Are you sure you don't wanna know?”  


By now, BethanyFrye was getting irritated by her brother's ‘prank’. “Fine,” she sighed, reaching for her glasses, “What's your secret?” When she put her glasses, Bethany's heart nearly jumped out of her chest. He saw the cut on Venturian's shoulder. Blood from the wound was soaking into the fabric on her brother’s PJs. He looked sickly and ‘out of it’. Then Bethany saw Jordan's eyes. They weren't the brown she knew. They were a brilliant crimson and his pupils were dilated to no larger than a pinprick. “Wha-,” Now, here's what Venturian expected: Casket thrusting the knife into Bethany's side. Just as she's about to be stabbed, he wakes up, cold and disturbed. He was wrong. Instead, Casket thrusted the knife into Bethany's side and she let out a sharp gasp. Jimmy Casket stabbed Bethany Frye. The wound bled slightly but, the knife kept most of the blood in. She screamed in pain, hoping Cierra or Isaac would hear her and wake up. When Jimmy pulled the knife out, Bethany whimpered. She was in pain but, she wasn't going down without a fight. Trying to ignore the pain, she dug her nails into Casket to pull herself up out of the bed and, possibly, buy time for her to leave. Jimmy bit his lip but, the grip was nothing more than discomfort to him. BethanyFrye had only gotten a few steps ahead when the madman, literally, stabbed her in the back. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground. He walked over to Bethany and crouched down to her level. She tried to pull herself up but, with one hand, Casket pushed her back to the ground. All Jordan could think was ‘This had to be a dream’. It can't be happening.  


Jimmy put the knife in front of Bethany’s eyes so she could see it well. “It's a pretty good secret, isn't it?”  


“J- Jordan, why are doing this?”  


That question broke his heart. This wasn't him. It was Casket. All he wanted to do was apologize. To explain everything. Sadly, Jimmy wouldn't let him do that. “Well, that's another part of my secret. You see-,” Isaac and Cierra burst through Bethany’s door. They heard BethanyFrye’s screams. ImmortalKyodai and HomelessGoomba were horrified by what they saw. Venturian was above BethanyFrye, who was on her stomach, and Jordan clearly had a knife in his left hand. Because they interrupted his secret-telling, he was mad. Casket snarled at Cierra and Isaac and, like an animal, Jimmy jumped straight for Cierra, the weaker of the two. She covered her face with her arms out of instinct. Just as he was about to attack, HomelessGoomba shoved ImmortalKyodai out of the way and grabbed Venturian. He then moved Casket’s momentum into the hallway wall, pinning him there. Isaac Frye may be the youngest but, he was also the tallest and strongest of the Frye siblings. In his protective rage, he slapped Jordan across the face, surprising himself, Cierra, and Jimmy. Typically, he's a gentle person but, HomelessGoomba felt the need to protect his sister. The red was draining away from Venturian's eyes. Everything around him began to feel more real as his youngest brother held him there. That's when he realized that this wasn't some weird dreamscape that looks a lot like home. This _was_ his home. It was all real. Venturian had just let Jimmy Casket stab his youngest sister. And it looked like it was all him. Jordan began to hyperventilate. His vision blurred in the corners of his eyes and he blacked out.  


Cierra and Isaac had absolutely no idea what to do. There was so much to take in. ImmortalKyodai managed to speak up, “Isaac…”  


“Yeah?”  


She took a deep breath, “Call 911. We need an ambulance,” the words were stuck on her tongue, “and the police.”  


HomelessGoomba nodded, “Yeah, o- okay.” He reluctantly let go of his brother, who slid to the ground, and headed downstairs to call. “If he wakes up, let me know.”  


Cierra turned to Bethany's room, where BethanyFrye was still on the ground. “Are you alright?” Bethany shook her head. Her breathing was unsteady. “What happened?” ImmortalKyodai asked.  


BethanyFrye gave herself time to organize her thoughts. “He stabbed my side and… I tried to run. He then stabbed me in the back and I fell.”  


Cierra brushed her sister’s red hair with her fingers to try to comfort her. She couldn't imagine what Bethany was going through. “Don't worry. Isaac is calling for help right now. Let’s get you up.” Bethany grinned as ImmortalKyodai tried to pull her up to her feet. When Cierra got Bethany to her feet, her knees bent and she nearly fell to the floor again. ImmortalKyodai chuckled, keeping her sister up. “You gotta put in some of your own work.”  


“I'm trying.” Bethany said. BethanyFrye didn't understand. When she looked down, she saw her feet were touching the ground but, she couldn't feel the carpet on her feet. When Cierra let go again for her to walk, Bethany fell on her stomach. She tried to land on her hands and knees but… she couldn't control her knees. BethanyFrye tried to pull herself up but, she could barely go into a ‘Cobra’ pose. Her heart dropped. “Cierra…”  


ImmortalKyodai felt a similar dread. “Yes?”  
“I- I can't feel my legs.” 

\--

An ambulance and a cop car arrived a few minutes later. Cierra had cleaned and patched up Jordan’s shoulder with some wrap-around bandages and rubbing alcohol so it wouldn't get infected. Isaac learned more about Bethany's condition as the paramedics brought her down the stairs with Cierra not far behind. Bethany was losing blood, fast, so, they needed to get her to the hospital. While heading to the ambulance to ride with their sister, HomelessGoomba and ImmortalKyodai agreed to come down to the police station for an interview once Bethany had a room in the hospital and their mother, Paula Frye, could be by Bethany's side. Venturian had to be taken into custody for the assault. He was handcuffed and brought to a jail cell until he woke up. When she got the call, Paula rushed to the hospital see her baby. There she learned what Isaac and Cierra had learned already. BethanyFrye was stabbed twice by Venturian. The first was to her abdomen. The second stab wound pierced her spine and the Central Nervous System. In other words, she was paralyzed from the waist down and would never walk again. The news hit Paula and her children like a truck. For half an hour, they cried and prayed over what had happened. In this moment, a police officer stepped in, requesting for Cierra and Isaac come to the police station right away for that interview. Knowing they had to do this, they say goodbye to their sister and mother and headed to the police station. 

\--

Meanwhile, Jordan was just waking up. His mind was fuzzy. He remembers the maze and being slammed against a wall. Not sure where or by what. Venturian, suddenly becomes very aware of his surroundings. He was not in his room anymore. Instead, he was in a cold concrete cell with iron bars facing nothing. Jordan had no idea how he got here. When Venturian turned back around, he saw Jimmy Casket sitting where he was before. Jordan was angry at and terrified of the psychopath. This had to be his doing. “What have you done?”  


Casket examined his knife, “You should find out soon enough.”  


Venturian’s fear and temper got the better of him. He grabbed at the psycho’s hoodie and said, “I don't want to find out ‘soon enough’. I want to find out now. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”  


Jimmy looked at the bars then back at Jordan.“There are two things you need to keep in mind. One, I am in control of your memories from here on out. I can make you remember and forget whatever memories we make together.” Casket gave back memories of his eyes in the bathroom and of Knifey. “Two…” Jimmy pointed in the direction of the iron bars. When Jordan looked over there, he saw a guard, simply staring at him. When Venturian looked back at Casket, he was no longer there. To anyone who didn't know what was going on, which was basically everybody except himself, he was insane. Jordan stood up straight and tried to look as sane as possible.  


The guard raised his eyebrow. “Um, the sheriff wishes to have a word with you. Follow me.” Wondering what Casket did, Jordan walked with the guard. Due to a lack of trust, the guard walked behind him. Just in case he attacked or tried to run off. Venturian couldn't blame him. In his shoes, he’d probably do the same thing. All Jordan could think about is where is siblings were or what Casket had done. At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if he was losing his mind.


	5. Interrogations and Control

Jordan felt like a little kid walking into the principal’s office as he walked into that interrogation room. He sat down and the door was slammed behind him. Jordan got up to check if it was locked. It was so. Thus, he sat back down. At least he wasn't handcuffed. Venturian had no idea what he'd say once someone came in. Something told him if he talked about Casket and how he made him attack Bethany, that would not end well. Jordan had to make sure Jimmy Casket was under his thumb and not the over way around. _“Great job,”_ He thought to himself, _“You let Jimmy take control and now, you're in an interrogation room with no idea what's going on.”_  


Jimmy Casket decided to butt into Venturian’s thoughts. _“Don't you worry your hosty little head about a thing. I can get us out of here and off the grid faster than you can say your name.”_  


Although he was startled by the madman’s voice, he didn't show it. He had to act normal on the outside even if it was chaos on the inside. _“You are not going to deal with it. In fact, you aren't going to do anything. I'll just suck it up and deal with the consequences.”_  


_“Even if it means serving one to six years in prison and paying up to a $10,000 fine?”_

Venturian paused. That was strangely specific. He was becoming anxious. What on earth did Casket do? He sighs, _“Yes.”_  


_“Wrong! I didn't come here for you to serve time and pay a fine. I came to kill as I like. I'm already in the confines of your brain. I don't need your body to be confined to a cell. Too many limitations.”  
_

_“I'm not going to let you kill anyone. If I have to spend time in prison to keep it that way, I will.”_ Casket chuckled, _“What's so funny?”_  


_“It’s funny that you think you have so much control over me. This isn't Gmod anymore. This time, you're the puppet and I'm the marionette. I don't intend for that to change anytime soon.”  
_

_“Doesn't mean I won't try to change it myself.”_

Sheriff Kurt Channon had just came in from the sibling’s interview and planned to talk to Bethany once she had time to recover. This was a rather difficult case for Officer Channon to follow. He had a 12 year old kid who adored Venturiantale and he always had an interest in his father’s work. How was he going to tell his son that his role model had attacked BethanyFrye? For Kurt Channon, there was a personal side to this, even if this was the first time they met in real life. When the Sheriff looked at Jordan Frye’s past offenses, he saw that Jordan started a couple fights in the 5th grade but, according to the files, it was only to defend his sisters, who were being bullied. He got suspended for a few days and the reports said it wasn't like him to act violently, even when defending his siblings. Typically, he'd take the diplomatic route. Channon and his crew only knew about this through ImmortalKyodai’s interview. After that, there's nothing. There was a couple parking and driving violations here and there but, nobody’s perfect. And it most definitely doesn't point to an attacker. It's not the normal ‘criminal record’ of someone who just committed aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. But, that doesn't mean it _can't_ happen. It's just very rare.  


When Sheriff Channon walked in, he saw Jordan Frye rubbing his temples. He's probably stressed out and showing remorse for what he did. At the moment, Venturian’s actions showed that he's not psychopathic or criminally insane. He had a moral compass and was feeling regret. In Indiana, crimes like this were not common, making this case difficult. Channon greeted him and they shook hands before sitting down and beginning the interrogation. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I've just told you?”  


Jordan nodded. “I don't want an attorney.”  


The Sheriff was surprised. Usually, that's the first thing someone asks for. Maybe narcissism? He feels confident about answering his questions? Jordan doesn't look like it. It seems to hard for him to focus. “Okay. With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak with me?”  


Jordan wanted to shake his head but, Jimmy Casket intervened. Instead, the madman nodded and said, “I am willing to speak with you.” Venturian was alarmed. In an instant, Casket took control of his head and mouth: the two things he needed to communicate with the Sheriff. Also, his voice. It wasn't the insane high pitch he recognized. Casket’s voice had gone a little deeper. It almost sounded like him. It was slightly deeper than his typical voice. The lower pitch was subtle but, it worked. A little too well for Jordan’s comfort.  


“So,” Channon asked, “How are you? How's things?”  


Casket shrugged for Venturian, “Fine. The channel me and my siblings work on, called Venturiantale, has been having some steady growth, so, that's nice.”  


The Sheriff saw that as an opportunity to gain his trust. “Oh yeah! That's how I recognize you! My son, Jamie, watches you guys all the time. He loves your content, especially Johnny Ghost,” Jimmy tensed at the name, “Hell, when he first found the channel when he was ten, for about 3 months, he told everybody he wanted to join P.I.E. Most of the time, his class would have no idea what he's talking about and he'd go on these rants about how great Venturiantale is, especially you. It’s a happy memory.”  


If it were Jordan in control, he'd be smiling from ear to ear because his kid’s cuteness and possibly ask to meet him. The psychopath had different feelings, to say the least. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms throughout the little story. “Let’s cut the crap, shall we? We're not here to talk about yourself and your kid. We're here to talk about how I attacked my sister.” Jordan’s mind was flooded with the details of Bethany’s attack, making him lose his grip on himself. Jimmy took the opportunity to gain control again.  


The Sheriff didn't know what to make of this. Confessions are never that easy. “So, you confess to attacking Bethany Frye?”  


“Of course. Who else could it be? Unless Cierra and Isaac are liars, which, to save you some time, they are not.”  


Channon knew that Jordan was trying to play mind games with him and take control of the interrogation. He wasn't going to let that happen. The remorse or stress at the beginning had vanished. Maybe it was all an act. The act of a psychopath. He had to ask, “Do you feel any remorse for what you have done?”  


Jimmy was grinning at Channon, like he knew something that the Sheriff didn't, “Why would I have remorse for telling people my secret? It's actually a great stress relief.”  


Telling a secret. Wasn't that an infamous part of a character in Venturiantale? Maybe it's an alter ego he uses to cope with what he's done. Channon decided to play along. He might be able to get something. “What is your secret?”  


Jimmy was happy that the Sheriff decided to play. Casket looks away, closing Jordan’s eyes. When he looked back at the officer, Channon nearly fell out of his chair. His eyes were red again. Apparently, Jimmy can see through Jordan’s eyes just like Jordan can see through Jimmy’s. While the Sheriff was still vulnerable, Casket jumped over the table and pinned the officer to the ground as quietly as possible. He used his body weight to keep him down and his right hand to cover his mouth. Casket dug his left index and middle finger into a pressure point just below the ear. After about a minute’s struggle, Channon’s eyes began to roll into the back of his head. Just as he was about to pass out, Jimmy Casket whispered into the Sheriff’s ear, “My name isn't Jordan Frye, anymore. It's Jimmy Casket.” And with that, Sheriff Kurt Channon was out cold. Jimmy stood, observing what he had done.  


Venturian couldn't believe his eyes. _“Is… is he-,”_  


_“Dead? No. I just knocked him out.”_

Jordan found that decision strange and out of character for Jimmy. _“I thought you said you wanted to kill.”_  


_“I don't kill with my hands-,”  
_

_“They're not your hands. Those hands are mine.”  
_

“Our _hands, then. The point is, hands: no, guns: maybe but not preferred, knives: definitely.”_  


_"I thought you weren't picky with what you killed with.”  
_

_“You had me yell ‘Stab stab stab’ with a knife in my hands and you thought I would gain a preference?”  
_

_“Well, I didn't know you were your own person until last week.”  
_

_“Trust me, I'm not ‘my own person’.”  
_

_“What is that supposed to mean?”  
_

_“How do you think I was able to mimic your voice so well? How do you think I crossed the wall on my own in the first place?”  
_

Before Jordan was given time to think, Venturian and Casket hear unlock and open the door. Two guards were standing there, baffled. They, then, see their Sheriff on the ground and assume the worst. Each of them pulled out a gun and aimed it at the psychopath. In response, instead of putting his hands up and surrendering, Jimmy dashed out of the room, shoving each of them out of the way. They chase after him and call for backup but, by then, he was gone. After about an hour of phone calls to local police stations to keep an eye out for Jordan Frye, Channon woke up. Everyone was relieved that he was okay but he was still rattled by what happened. “Your name isn't Jordan, huh?” The Sheriff said to himself, “Well, Jimmy Casket, I will do everything in my power to make sure you don't hurt anyone else. Even if it means my life.”


	6. Dominance and Conflict

It was cold. The air was tense. The dead body of a young woman was found in a dark alleyway. She was stabbed to death. The police had almost cleared the area and were ready to retrieve the body for an autopsy. It was risky business because the body had been stabbed so many times, the head and limbs were fragile. As the rookie officer and forensic specialist prepared the body, someone was waiting above them on a darkened window sill. His jeans and blue hoodie were soaked in blood, making reddish purple splotches on the cheap blue hoodie, with a red triangle and a yellow V over it. His knife was covered with crimson, much like his eyes. He had blood red eyes with only tiny black specs for pupils. He also had dark brown hair, somewhat concealing the monster behind them. The murderer released a maniacal laugh, scaring each of them. He jumps down from the sill with an usual mixture of bluntness and grace, his knife clearly shining in the moonlight. “Hello!” The madman greets with an eerie smile, “Do you like what I did? It was a lot of fun to do!” The cop got in front of the unarmed forensic specialist and tried to whip out her gun but, with inhuman speed, the psychopath stabbed the officer before she could shoot. She tried to keep herself up to call for back up but, she began to feel lightheaded and passed out. To finish her off, he stabbed the cop in the chest, impaling her heart. There was no way she could survive now. The psycho looked over what he had done. He turned around to see that the bystander was running for it. He smiled, bursting into laughter. “Running won't help you! Don't you know that running only makes it more fun for me?” He chased after the forensics expert, backing him into another dark alley, with the madman blocking the way. The poor guy had no way out. “Come on! Don't you want to know my secret?” His to-be victim, shook his head. “Are you sure? It's a good one!” The psychopath walked towards the expert, grabbed him by the chin, and turned his head so he could see his ear. The madman leaned in and whispered, “Jordan Frye is my puppet to play with. I am, now, the host of this body.” The specialist looked at him, completely clueless about what he was talking about. Before be could ask, the madman shoved the knife into his throat. When he let go, the forensic specialist fell to the ground. There was nothing more to be done. He was facing certain death. Besides, Jimmy Casket needed to get back before sunrise. He wasn't going to allow himself to get caught. 

\--

It had been four months since Jordan Frye, or Jimmy Casket, as the police force called him, disappeared. In those seven months, there were 12 suspected murders against Frye in the East Coast area. Typically, the body count rose in bursts of about 3 to 5 people a month. Channon was assigned to lead the investigation due to having some background on Frye a few months before. It bothered the Sheriff that he hadn't been brought to justice yet. Even though his actions were very chaotic, they were also extremely calculated. Jordan knew what he was doing. Channon was deep in his thoughts when a Private sprinted into his office. “What is it, O’Brain?” he asked.  


The rookie was out of breath. “He struck again.” The Private panted.  


“How many?” Channon asked.  


“Three. A Jane Doe we're trying to identify, Private Kendra Litwick, and our head of the forensics department-,”  


“Eric Swine,” The Sheriff had good memories of that man. They solved cases together since the beginning. He bowed his head in respect for the fallen, “May God calm their souls.”  


“That makes it 15, right?” Channon nodded, “I’m sorry.”  


Kurt tried to shake it off, “Eh, it's not your fault. You're not Jimmy Casket. Thank you for the update. As you were.” The Private saluted and left the room. O’Brain had placed a manila folder on Channon’s desk. It held a picture for each of the two identified victims. He pulled out a post-it note for the Jane Doe and placed them on his whiteboard. That was where he kept track of the Jimmy Casket case. Frye casted a large net for his killings, making it difficult for Kurt Channon to identity a pattern of movement. He just had to get away, didn't he? He's been an officer for almost sixteen years. He should've done better than he did. The Sheriff planned to keep his promise but, from the way things were looking, he had no clue how he was going to do carry it out. 

When the attacks and murders hit the news, the Venturiantale siblings stopped uploading videos. They expected a drop in subscribers and general interest to die but, the exact opposite happened. Venturiantale exploded! Millions of views were generated from old videos and they went from 2.3 million subscribers to about 5 million. Also, Bethany was getting an insane amount of support for what happened to her. Many viewers were asking HomelessGoomba, ImmortalKyodai, and BethanyFrye to rejump the channel. In response, they made a final video that told the world it didn't feel right to try and continue the channel when Venturian couldn't be a part of it. In truth, there was a little more to it. Things among Isaac, Cierra, and Bethany were tense. There was a lot less playing and joking around. Isaac and Bethany would often fight. HomelessGoomba had become bitter towards Venturian for what he did to his younger sister. On the other hand, Bethany tried to stick to her godly roots and to have love and mercy towards her brother, despite his actions. Cierra was often the mediator between the two. She let her younger siblings feel what they felt but, ImmortalKyodai made sure nothing that was said was below the belt. Personally, Cierra agreed more with Bethany but, that didn't mean she didn't understand Isaac’s side. She was mad at Jordan but, she knew when you let anger make you bitter, you're not going to be happy. Tensions between the siblings had nearly caused them to move out to get away from each other. But, at the end of every tense fight, there was always some sort of reminder that they needed. Each of them needed one another to get through this. Thus, the Frye siblings stayed under one roof. 

In Vermont, Casket found the perfect ‘base’ to hide out. In a small, but dense, forest, there was a brick building. It was 2 stories tall and hidden among the trees. Some of the walls were crumbling, leaving the barren concrete exposed to the elements. Obviously, nobody had inhabited this place for a very long time. He decided to settle here to regroup himself, while renourishing Venturian. Casket couldn't kill if Jordan wasn't healthy. Casket put himself in handcuffs that he stole from a neighboring city, placed his wrists under his legs, to immobilize Venturian, and put the key in his hoodie pocket. He'd then let Jordan take control and the madman would use his entity form instead of sitting around in his head to make his presence known. From the moment he was fully conscious, Jordan was a fighter. He would go nuts, hoping someone would hear him or do _something_. The only thing that could shut him up was if Jimmy took control of his mouth. Even then, Venturian was stubborn as all hell. A few days passed when he tried to escape. Casket had let his guard down and had gone out in the middle of the night to steal some food for Venturian. Jordan hurried to slither his hands out from under his knees one by one and ran the second he was out of the position. Unfortunately, another thing Casket liked about the hideout was it was miles from the nearest city or gas station. Venturian was lost, doing the best he could to navigate through the forest, in the hopes of finding someone or something. When Jimmy returned, he was pissed at Jordan. He dropped the food he dumpster dived for. Jimmy found Venturian in about 10 minutes. It took another 10 to bring him back. Since they shared a mind, Jimmy Casket was confident in tracking him. If he wanted to, he could've possessed him on the spot and dragged him back. Instead he decided to play some games before returning. Jordan Frye was only free for half an hour when he was caught.  


As punishment, Casket did two things. One, he made Jordan skip breakfast and two, he put him back in the original position but, also put a spare set of cuffs around Jordan’s ankles. Not to the madman’s surprise, Venturian fought it and tried to leave the position right away. The psycho watched this time, curious and amused by Jordan’s actions. Because his feet were stuck together, it was hard enough to get his hands halfway across his feet, let alone to free his hands. The handcuffs tugged at the outer part of his wrist, causing a lot of pain when tried to free himself. After quite a bit of time, Jimmy was becoming bored. His persistence was starting to irritate him. Casket got up, found Knifey, and walked over to his captive. The psychopath holds the knife between Jordan’s eyes. Jimmy’s face was expressionless, which was much scarier than his insane face. In a fairly normal voice he said, “Stop it.” Venturian obeyed immediately, frozen by the sight. He knew Jimmy Casket had killed innocent, undeserving people with that blade. He knew _he_ had killed innocent, undeserving people with that blade.  


Jordan was also alarmed by Jimmy’s voice. It was what it was like at the police station, “H- how can you mimic my voice?”  


The madman grinned, “So, you finally decided to ask the question. Took you long enough.”  


“It's not like you gave me all the time in the world to-,” The psycho brought the knife to the YouTuber’s neck, shutting him up in a flash.  


Jimmy didn't appreciate Jordan's sass, “There's a reason why I don't let you ask a lot of questions. But,” he pulled the knife away, “that is one I want to answer. Do you remember when you were ten, and you attacked that mean ol’ bully?”  


The memory was vague but, he somewhat remembered lashing out at a bully that shoved his brother and sisters around. He got really mad but after that, he didn't remember attacking.  


Until Jimmy gave him the memory. The memory of him jumping onto the bully and almost breaking his arm. The only reason why he didn't was because a couple of teachers separated him from the other kid. Before, he only knew about this through people telling him what happened. Venturian’s heart dropped. “You made me attack that kid?”  


The psychopath pretended to give it some thought, “Well, everyone has a psychopathic side. You just let it come through. Our personalities weren't that separate back then.”  


If Jordan was able to stand, he would've. “Do you have any idea how much that isolated me as a kid?! I was an outcast because of you!”  


“No… You were an outcast because you let your temper get the better of you. While, technically, I was your temper and sliver of psychopathy, I was nothing more than a part of your personality that got out of hand.”  


“That doesn't make sense! You told me I created you. If you're a part of me that was always there, how are you not that?”  


“You created _Jimmy Casket_ , not my personality. My personality just so happens to a part of me that excited you and your fans. They were also a big help too. They created several fan works about myself and, with that, made me a very popular character among the fandom. Also, stressing my traits in overall existence. And like I said, I was getting tired of Gmod. Now, I'm playing the game of my _life_. I can't thank you enough for that.”  


As the madman began to walk away, Jordan said a silent prayer, _“God, please help me. I really need to depend on you to get through this. Jesus, give me strength to-,”_  


“NO PRAYING!” Jimmy snapped out loud.  


Jordan was thrown off by Casket’s outburst, “Huh?”  
“I'm still in your head, remember?” The madman reminded him, tapping on his head, “I can hear your thoughts and as long as I'm inside your head, I prohibit God from your mind.”  


“That’s not fair! How am I supposed to be stable when I can't reach out to Jes-,”  
Jimmy Casket ran back to Jordan and placed the knife on his throat. It looked like that was going to be a common threat. It was effective nonetheless, “Don't ever say his name in my presence again. **Ever!** ” The psychopath walked away from him again. This time, with a much more aggressive posture. While he didn't look it, Jordan was terrified. It was obvious Jimmy was a powerful entity. At that very moment, Venturian couldn't focus on a lot of things but, he did know one thing. He had to find a way out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:  
> Right now, I'm banned from writing so I'm not sure how long I'll be off for. I hope I'll have Winter Break to write but, I'm not sure. Fingers crossed! Also, please give feedback. I'm here to learn, not to be praised.


	7. Bracelets and Crowbars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! Oh my god, it's been forever since I've been able to write! Enjoy!

They couldn't believe it. After four months, Johnny Ghost and Johnny Toast found a way to get past the fourth wall while maintaining their Gmod abilities. Without them, they both knew they’d be screwed. In front of them were six bracelets. Each of them looked like rounded, green computer chips. When on the wearer’s wrist, they hold all the effects and traits of the dimension they were in when applied. It also gave the wearer power to create a dimensional rift to travel wherever they wished; in this case, the zero world. “Are you sure we needed to make some for the Acachallas?” Ghost questioned, looking over the bracelets on the table.

“Yes,” Toast nodded, “We need all the help we can get.”

“I understand that but, of all people, over Vahl, and Cywren, _and_ Asylum, you want to bring the Acachalla family?”

“Too hard to contact them. Besides, you know just as well as I do they’re not as dumb as they act. They are extremely powerful and can be a big help to us.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Ghost mumbled, “Let’s just get over there.”

With the chips in his bag, Johnny Ghost followed his partner to House with Garden 3. When they made it to the door, Toast sniffed the air, “More radiation. That's the third Crocket this week. Sir, is it just me or have they been getting more reckless lately?”

“No you're not alone,” Ghost agreed, “it has to do with Venturiantale’s lack of activity. We need to get them back on, soon.”

“Knock, knock.” The Brit imitated with tiny head-bangs on the door. The door swung open, revealing Mama Gertrude.

“Hello! What can I help you with?”

“It's ready.” Ghost announced.

Her eyes widened with excitement. It was finally time to return things to normal. She dashed into the next room where Papa was watching TV as normal. The speed at which she entered the room and caused her to bump into the TV and break it.

“Oh come on!” The Kentucky man cried, “I just got this one-,”

“They're done.”

Papa couldn't believe what he just heard. He managed to pull himself off the couch and said, “Get the kids. If they're trying to kill each other, you know what to do.” Gertrude smiled. The good old crowbar trick. Knock them out and wait for them to respawn. She dashed upstairs to get Sally and Billy. Papa walked into the hallway where the paranormal investigators were standing. They heard the clang of a crowbar but, other than that, it was awkward silence between them.

“So...” Toast started, “How’s Gertrude?”

“Fine, fine.” The Kentucky man said, “Her legs are acting up every now and again but, she seems to be doing better.” In the past few months, BethanyFrye characters, especially Gertrude, had been having some difficulty walking. They'd usually lose their balance and fall on their face. Sometimes they'd even die and have to respawn. Nobody could explain why.

Sally and Billy hazily walked through the front door while Mama was smugly coming down the stairs, crowbar in hand. “You promised you’d never do that again.” Billy complained.

“No,” Gertrude corrected, “I promised I wouldn’t do that if you guys didn’t try to kill each other.”

“I wouldn't have tried to kill him if Billy didn't call Freddy stupid.” Sally whined.

“He is stupid!” Billy snapped, “Freddy is a big dinosaur with tiny teeth. I dare you to think of something even more stupider!”

“Billy Acachalla,” Papa mumbled under his breath. Of course, nobody noticed.

“Now, that's enough you two,” Gertrude commanded in her motherly tone, “P.I.E. has something very important to give us.”

Johnny Ghost pulled the green bracelets out of his bag and put them on the table. The children were intrigued and even Papa and Gertrude showed interest. “These are Interdimensional bracelets. What makes these different from other things that can take us move across dimensions is that this also gives us access to the real world which is much different than any dimensions we see here. The real world, also known as the ‘zero world’, is the home of the creators, the people who made us. It was impossible to go there until now. One of the main problems we faced was that Zero world didn’t allow us to keep our abilities while we are there. These bracelets solve the problem. Not only do they allowed to travel to any dimension we want but, they are the thing that keeps our abilities in another world that doesn’t allow us to have them. We can also open our own Gmod menu and have access to our profiles in another dimension with this bracelet.”

“However,” Toast pointed out, “There are a few risks with this bracelet. We don’t know if there’s any side effects to this travel. We’d assume not but, we can’t say for certain. Like all dimensional travel, you cannot predict what’s going to happen on the other side. Speaking of unpredictable, it's also risky because we’re going after Jimmy Casket. It is believed that he’s in control of Venturian and, as we all know, he’s very dangerous. He is most likely just as dangerous in the zero world as he is here, if that is where he is. I also need to inform you, if you take off the bracelet in an alternate dimension, the previous effects will go away. You still had access to your profile but I’ll be the only thing that isn't different.”

“And you want us to help you, why?” Gertrude asked.

“The more, the merrier.” Toast answered, “You guys may be unpredictable but, you four are an incredibly powerful force. We need all the help we can get.”

The children were very excited by the end. “Can we help them, _please_!?” Sally begged to her mother.

“We'll be good!” Billy promised.

Gertrude looked at her children, then at Papa, “What do you think?”

The Kentucky man sighed, “I don’t think either of you will be good but, for the sake of Venturiantale, I’ll do it.” Billy and Sally cheered as P.I.E. and the Acachalla family put on the bracelets and made themselves more familiar with the format. Ghost opened up a rift and jumped in with his partner.

Sally hid behind Gertrude’s leg, “I'm scared!”

Gertrude felt herself lose her balance but she stayed strong for her daughter, “It's okay,” she said holding Sally’s hand, “I got you.” Sally smiled as they jumped in together, leaving Papa and Billy.

Papa groaned. “Don't be a pain in the butt, okay?”

“Okay!” Billy grinned. In the back of his mind, Papa knew that wasn’t going to happen. Despite this, he jumped into the portal. Where in the world were they going to end up?


	8. Chapter 8: Arguments and Explanations

This portal was the strangest rift P.I.E had ever gone through. Johnny Ghost came out of the portal, twirling and disoriented. Luckily, Ghost had an iron stomach. He had to get one after what Casket had put him through. As soon as he got his grip, Johnny Toast fell out of the portal and on top of him, causing each of them to plant onto the ground. Ghost brushed off the dirt and looked at his partner. He let out a little whelp. What he saw nearly made him jump out of his skin. While Toast was slightly alarmed by this sight of his boss, he was more concerned by Ghost's reaction to him. "What, sir?" Johnny Ghost couldn't say a word. He simply pointed. When Toast looked down, he was even more terrified than his boss. Or, should I say, she was even more terrified than her boss? He had the same apparel in Gmod, as did Ghost, but, the anatomy was all wrong. Toast had ... _girl_ stuff. He was female.  
When Ghost got over the shock, he broke into laughter, "I knew there was a possibility for 'side effects' but, I didn't realize a _gender-bend_ was one of them." The investigator doubled over from laughing.

Toast's face was a bright red as she tried to figure out what the heck she looked like. She ran up to Johnny and grabbed his bag, "Sir, give me this." Toast voice was slightly higher and feminine.

"Hey, that's mine!" Ghost cried, still cackling. Ignoring him, Toast found a hand mirror. He had long brown hair in a ponytail and brown eyes with glasses. She began to admire herself once she got a better look at her appearance. In her opinion, she looked nice.

Then, Toast had an idea, "You think I look strange?" Ghost's laughing stopped immediately. Oh god, what did he look like? "Then take look at this fella!" The second Toast flipped the mirror towards his boss, Ghost freaked out. He blocked his view of the mirror. He, then, eased up a bit and looked. Ghost looked different but, it wasn't as bad as he imagined in his head. If anything, he looked pretty good. Nice hair, good jawline.

Ghost flexed a bit in the mirror. Then, he realized something else. "Oh my gosh..."

"What, sir?" Toast asked in concern.

Ghost pretended to be surprised. "I'm taller than you! Yes! Finally!"

Toast groaned. She saw it too, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope!" Ghost cheered, "It's about freaking time!"

Toast crossed her arms and looked around a bit, "Huh. The Acachalla Family isn't with us." This wasn't shocking. The Acachallas jumped in at a different time, meaning they'd show up in a different location. Basic dimension knowledge. What was surprising was where they were. In front of them was none other than the Frye home. Neither of them had ever seen the home of their creators but, their instincts told them this was it.

"Son of the creators," the younger one chuckled, "Looks like we got pretty lucky."

"No kidding, sir," the Britt agreed, "Out of all the places we could've ended up..." She lifted her hand to a fist bump with her partner.

Ghost took it and began to head to the front door. "Come on, let's talk to Venturiantale, Joanny Toast."

"Sir, don't call me that." Toast growled.

"Whatever you say, ma'am."

"Seriously, sir, stop it."   
  


\--

Isaac, Cierra, and Bethany never had any idea how these fights started but, they always came to HomelessGoomba saying, "How can you be okay with what Jordan did to you?"

"Because it wasn't him," Bethany would counter, "I mean, it was him but, it wasn't. It was-,"

"'His eyes. They were red'. I know, I _know_. You've said that a thousand times and I still don't believe you."

"Even if it was him-,"

"It was him."

BethanyFrye glared at her brother before continuing, "We need to have forgiveness for what people do. God wouldn't have let this happen to me if it wasn't a part of his plan."

"Yeah right," Isaac rolled his eyes, "It's so much of his plan to have one of his loyal followers to be stabbed, nearly killed, and stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of their life!" He impatiently leaped off the seat he was sitting in.

Cierra and Bethany could feel their brother's pain behind his temper, "Isaac-," ImmortalKyodai started, reaching out for his hand.

"No!" he shouted, slapping his hand away from his older sister, "Don't 'Isaac' me! I'm not a little kid who solves a stupid Rubix Cube anymore! I don't need to be protected! I'm an adult!" HomelessGoomba stormed out of the living room and towards his room. 

"Isaac..." Cierra called, "Isaac!" 

She got up and turned to her sister, who was lying on the couch. Bethany nodded, "Go after him. I got this." ImmortalKyodai chased after her baby brother as Bethany slumped her legs off the couch and into the wheelchair. Even though she was psychically disabled and accepted the fact she couldn't have a normal life, she refused to be completely dependent on other people.

BethanyFrye followed her sister into the hallway where she saw that Isaac was yelling, "I don't get why you can't relate to how I feel! If anything, Beth should be more pissed than I am! He's the one who did this to her. I know that's how I'd act!"

"Maybe that's why God let her go through it instead of you!"

HomelessGoomba threw his head back, "Here we go again! It's always about God, God, God. God is good, God is great. What if he's not that good? Have you ever considered that?" Isaac began to go up the stairs. ImmortalKyodai started to follow up when he yelled, "Don't follow me! Leave me alone!"

Cierra stood at the bottom of the stairwell, completely at a loss for words. She looked at her sister, who was wheeling up to her. That's what's been going on in his head? It was surprising for each of them. With near perfect timing, the doorbell rang, startling the sisters. "Talk to Isaac, okay?" ImmortalKyodai asked. Bethany nodded. With the help of her sister, she got on on a stair lift and made her way up, where another wheelchair waited for her. In his rage, Isaac had knocked over the wheelchair upstairs. When she made it up, Bethany bent over, made it upright, and brought herself into the wheelchair. The ginger made her way towards Isaac's room.   
  


\--

ImmortalKyodai opened the door to the last thing she expected. The person at the door was in a grey hoodie, blue jeans, and a large, tan shoulder bag. It was Jordan. She had no idea what to do. Should she hug him? Should she close the door in his face? A million thoughts were running through her head and Cierra couldn't make out any of them. Finally, she pulled him into a bear hug. "Oh my god! I can't believe this!" When she let him out of it, she grabbed his shoulders, soaking in what she saw. The man was hopelessly confused by ImmortalKyodai's reaction. "You're going to come in and explain everything that has happened. I don't know how but, were going to work this out!"

Cierra was practically pulling him in the door when he asked, "Explain what? Work what out?"

Her heart dropped. How could he not know? "You don't know what you've done?"

He tilted his head, "I went through a dimensional portal and ended up here. I don't know what that could've been affected so quickly."

This had to be that thing their therapist talked about when this all began. Multiple-personality disorder? No, that was the old term for it. Dissociative identity disorder? Yeah. That was it, "Oh, Jordan!" she brought him into a hug, "I know this is all so confusing. You just need help. Then everything will be clearer."

The only thing he needed 'help' with was understanding what the heck was going on with ImmortalKyodai. He assumed the creators would be stronger than this, "I- I may look like Jordan but, I'm not Venturian. My name is Johnny Ghost, Paranormal Investigator Extraordinaire. Johnny Toast is right behind me."

"No, no he isn't." Cierra said, her eyes shut as tightly as the hug. Her brother had been delusional for all these months. She pitied him.

For a few moments, there was only silence. Awkward for the man, relieving for Cierra. "Um, ma'am," a British voice interjected, "I'm right here. My name is Johnny Toast."

When Cierra opened her eyes, she nearly jumped out of her skin. There before her, and behind her supposed brother, was a woman in formal apparel exactly like Johnny Toast's. God, she hadn't thought about them for months. ImmortalKyodai let go to Ghost and approached Toast. The only difference between them was what they wore. Cierra was in sweatpants and a purple batman T-shirt while this 'lady Toast' wore dress pants, nice shoes, and a white dress shirt and a black vest. It was scary to look into Toast's face. They shared the exact same features. Cierra had no clue what to say. They were imaginary characters that they roleplayed in Gmod. In her mind, they were dead. They shouldn't be in front of her right now. "H- how?"

"It's a very long and confusing story," Ghost explained, "Where are the other siblings?"   
Cierra couldn't stay where she was. ImmortalKyodai ran up the stairs to get Bethany and Isaac.

Ghost looked at his partner, "Looks like they're here." The two followed her up. As they went up the stairs, Toast noticed a stair lift. The chair made her stop. Her boss was confused, "What's wrong?" he asked.

"The lift thingy, sir."

Ghost put two and two together. What was a stair lift, something typically meant for old people doing in a home where the oldest person was 25? Strange. For now, they had to move on. P.I.E. needed to meet the creators.   
  


\--

It was clear Isaac was still mad when Bethany made her way into his room, "I thought I told you to leave me alone." he snapped.

"That's just what you told Cierra." BethanyFrye told her brother, rolling into his room.

HomelessGoomba continued to avoid eye contact with his sister, "I want to be left alone."

"That's not going to happen," Bethany frowned, "You're stuck with us," she moved back into her brother's bed but, didn't sit on it. She wanted to give him some space. They stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, each soaking in what has happened to the Frye family in the past four months. Out of nowhere, "I was mad at Jordan, ya know." Bethany confessed.

Isaac snapped out of his thoughts. His sister, actually mad at someone? Mad at Jordan, of all people? He knew Bethany had a bad temper but, it was always over stupid, little things. She couldn't hold a grudge. Could she? He scoffed, "You definitely don't show it."

"You're right, I don't." BethanyFrye agreed, "I held it in, let it bubble. If felt mad at the world, mad at myself. I shouldn't have let this happen to me. Then, one day, for whatever reason, I decided to stop. The pity party, the resentment. It did nothing for me. It only hurt. It felt so much better when I put it at God's feet."

Isaac rolled his eyes, "Easier said than done."

"When did I say it was easy? Trust me, it's not. It's easy to just sit in that hateful hole and have people do things for you," she looked down at her numb feet, "But it feels so freeing when you stop blaming yourself. Forgiveness is not the easiest path but, it's definitely the most rewarding."

"I don't blame myself." Isaac murmured.

"You feel responsible for _something_ , that much I can see," she turned her chair to Isaac, "And let me give you a little hint, one way to stop being mad at yourself is to hold onto the happy moments in the past instead of the ones you regret. Even with all of this going on, try your best to hold onto that trolly optimism you had before," Bethany leaned in, "You'll feel so much better. There's a reason why Jesus wants to have faith like a child." She cupped her brother's cheek in her hand.

HomelessGoomba gratefully put his hand over Bethany's and took a deep breath, "You know I'd take your place to give you your life back, right?"

BethanyFrye nodded, "It just wasn't meant to be that way."

They let their hands fall, "I'm sorry." HomelessGoomba apologized.   
"For what?" the ginger asked.

"My immaturity, my temper tantrums," Isaac paused, looking his sister in the eye, "Everything."

"Don't apologize," she told him, feeling her brother's pain again, "None of this was your fault." Bethany grabbed for his brother and brought him into a hug.

In this peaceful moment of silence, ImmortalKyodai ran through the door, heavily panting, "You're not going to believe this."  
  


\--

The Frye siblings had made their way to the living room. When Johnny Ghost and Johnny Toast saw BethanyFrye, it explained a lot. Her character's conditions, the lack of Venturian's presence, the stair lift they saw. Unfortunately, with a little explanation from Isaac and Cierra, their worst fears had been confirmed. Casket had made his way to the zero world. In the meantime, they had to try and explain to them how they got here and how this strange 'side effect' worked. "In other words," Toast continued, "You're characters are most likely to think and/or act much like you because they are a part of you. It's rare to find a character that isn't much like their creator. That's most likely why we look like who made us." 

ImmortalKyodai and Bethany Frye were sitting on the couch, having trouble taking it all in, "Oh god," Cierra complained, "My head hurts."

"Same here." Bethany agreed, rubbing her head.

Isaac had a different reaction. He was pacing around the living room, processing what he was told, "So, all of the characters we've ever made are real? Papa Acachalla? Sally? Jimmy Casket? All of them?"

Toast became fidgety at Casket's name, "Uh-huh," her nervousness alarmed the three creators, "Speaking of Jimmy, he's the reason why we're here."

The whole room was stiff. Jimmy Casket? Here? BethanyFrye thought of something. "He doesn't happen to have red eyes, does he?"

Ghost found the question odd, "Yeah. Wouldn't you guys know stuff like that?"

Isaac shook his head as he looked at his sister in utter disbelief. "It- it's usually the fans that decide stuff like that." She stuttered.

"You mean to say that Jimmy Casket attacked Bethany?" Cierra asked.

"Yes and no." Toast responded.

Bethany was confused by the Britt's answer. "How can it be both?"

Toast was hesitant to answer, "There's no easy way to say this."

"Just try." Cierra told her creation.

Ghost took a deep, unsteady, breath, ready to answer for his partner, "Casket took over your brother," she explained, "Kinda like a possession; except it's not. Unlike us, he was a more solid, and quieter, part of Venturian's personality. Back then, Casket and Jordan were one of the same. Even back then, 'Jimmy' had a bad temper and was very violent. Venturian often avoided this side of him because he didn't like it," As Ghost talked about this, Cierra nudged Bethany and Isaac. What the investigator describing sounded too much like that attack when they were little. The ginger and troll were thinking the same thing. It was a day Bethany and Cierra remembered well. It's hard to forget when your older brother hurts a kid for you. HomelessGoomba wasn't there, saying he was 3 at the time, but, he was told about it when he was 8, "After a while, Jimmy started to fade from Venturian as he matured. He probably would've been gone forever if it wasn't that game mode: Murder. Jimmy came back to life and the 'fellow adventurers' loved it, only helping him live longer. Then a few videos came out, confirming some internet theories about how we were the same person, officially making Jimmy and me one in the same. Then, a few months back, he was gone. My first suspicion was that he came here looking for some new thrills and, apparently, I was right."

"What's going to happen to Jordan?" Bethany asked.

"Knowing Casket," Ghost thought out loud, "He'd take dominance the second he could get it. Saying how long it's been, Jimmy probably has already put himself in a powerful position. After he gets power, I don't know. He never got that far with me. Sure, I've broken a few times but, I'd always find a way to bring him back under control. I would've assumed you guys could handle it even better than me. Do you know if he's actually killed anybody?"

The siblings nodded, "Fifteen people. I'm the only person who has survived his attacks." Bethany told them.

Johnny Ghost gnawed on his finger, "That's a nasty number," he turned to 'Joan' Toast, "We need to find him."

"On it sir."

"How are you going to do that?" Isaac asked.

"Server history," investigator shrugged. HomelessGoomba, ImmortalKyodai, and BethanyFrye were clueless about what he meant by that. Ghost sighed, "How far behind are you guys on technology? Geez! With the bracelets that we talked about earlier, we can search for specific people and find out where they are. We find Venturian, we find Jimmy."


	9. Annabelle and Seven-Eleven

In a local 7-11, a cashier was bored out of his mind. He played with the cash machine buttons and observed the empty store. _“Who in the hell,”_ he thought, _“Is up at eleven at night to come eat a freaking hot dog?”_ Of course there was the occasional drunkard or cheap bachelorette party but, for the most part, the graveyard shift is utterly boring.

Unless you see a shotgun shell fire through the doors, shattering the glass and setting off the burglary alarm. The cashier jolted awake, nearly falling to the ground. When he cautiously stood up he saw a bald, chubby man with a small 12 year old kid. A hostage? Didn’t look like it. When the man made eye contact with him, his heart sank. The middle aged man stomped towards the twenty-three year old, with the kid not far behind. The bald man aimed the shotgun at the cashier, “You can have the money,” the cashier carefully told him, as he was taught in protocol, “just don’t shoo-,”

“I’m not here for the money,” the bald man snapped in a rough southern accent, “I’m here for information. Where are we?”

That’s odd, to say the least. He was never told about anything like this in training. “How do you not know where you are?” he asked.

“Well-,” the middle aged man stopped to read the cashier’s name tag, “Andrew, that is a very long story and not one I’m willing to talk about. Now,” he brought the shotgun closer to Andrew’s neck, “Where are we?”

 

 --

 

Papa Acachalla was slammed onto the hood of a police car right outside the 7-11. The cashier was outside the shattered door and had an annoyingly smug smile on his face. Lucky for him, the police station was only a few minutes away by cop car. “Come on!” He cried, “I am PAPA ACACHALLA! I am a 700 year old time lord that could kill all of you right here, right now! Where’s my son?”

“That is none of your concern, Mr. Acachalla.” A cop scolded, getting him off the hood of the car and into the car.

“It is ALL of my concern! Now, let me out of these stupid cuffs!”

“No.” By now, the cop was amused by this man’s actions, letting out a little smirk.

Papa saw the cop’s smile, “What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing.” The cop grinned, getting into the driver’s seat, _“Just your arrogance.”_ He thought. The cop turned to his walkie-talkie, “Is the kid alright?”

“Yeah,” another cop responded, “He’s not hurt. Says his name is Billy. Let’s just take his father to Channon.”

 

\--

 

It was incredibly difficult to get Billy Acachalla to stop moving around, let alone to get him to sit down and answer their questions. Sometimes he spoke to fast, Privates O’Brain and Pierson couldn't understand what he was saying. “Hold up, hold up,” Pierson asked, “You’re telling us that you and your father are from a video game called ‘G-mod’,” Billy nodded, “and you’re here to save a group of creators called… Venturiantale?”

The hyperactive kid was bouncing in his chair, “Uh-huh! We’re trying to save the world from Jimmy Casket!”

When Billy brought this up, each of the Privates were surprised. Why would a little kid know about such a brutal serial murderer? However he knew, they need to check if he knew what he was talking about. The cops were getting more desperate every day. That case has hit so many dead ends, it’s ridiculous. “What do you know about ‘Jimmy Casket’?” Pierson asked.

The kid gave it some thought, “Jimmy Casket is a murdererer and kills people with a knife. Usually, Johnny Ghost controls him but, sometimes he breaks. Like, when the time me, Mama, and Sally, got turned into dinosaurs and we threatened to eat Ghost but, then, he turned into Casket and killed us! And also-”

The more Billy tried to explain his situation, the more confused Pierson and O’Brain got. On a piece of paper, O’Brain wrote _‘This kid needs SERIOUS help’_. Pierson simply nodded.    

Out of nowhere, Billy’s ramblings stopped. He became very concerned, “What time is it?”

O’Brain looked at his watch, “Almost midnight, why?”

Billy’s eyes widened, “Oh no…”

“What?” Pierson asked. 

He bit his finger, “Who do you have working with Papa?”

“Our best guys, Channon and Utes.” O’Brain said.

Billy’s hyperactivity slowed. It was clear that he was nervous. “Let’s just say they’re not going to like Jose Jose Jose Jose…”

 

\--

 

At midnight, sharp, their suspect of attempted robbery passed out. No warning. While he was rambling about how stupid this all was, his face slammed into the table. At first, Channon and Utes thought he was dead. Just as they were about to check for a pulse, he sprung back up. He had a head of hair and brown skin. He was… Mexican? He jumped onto the table, “I’m Jose Jose Jose Jose! I am too beautiful to be interrogated! I’m also the president of Mexico for goodness sake! Get me out of here!”

Utes tried to get him down from the table as Channon told him, “Mr. Acachalla, I need you to calm down.”

“ACACHALLA? Who is this ‘Acachalla’? My name is Jose Jose Jose Jose and I’m too beautiful for this!” He pulled up the G-mod menu from the bracelet and grabbed a machete.

The two cops jumped back and pulled out their handguns. The two veteran officers stared at one another. What in the name of God was going on here? They patted him down before the interrogation and the only weapon he had on his was ‘Annabelle’, his shotgun. Channon turned back to ‘Jose Acachalla’, “Sir, if you attack us, we will be allowed to shoot. Just drop your weapon and-,”

Jose Jose Jose Jose ignored Channon’s command and jumped at them. The two officers fired their guns, aiming for the head. Jose Jose Jose Jose was shot between the eyes and his body turned to jello. His appearance of the corpse returned to normal but, it flopped around. Like a ragdoll. Somehow, he managed to return to the seat he was sitting in. His limbs and neck were limp. Each of the cops were shaken by this. They had no idea what just happened. One second, he was a raging lunatic, the next, he was a raging Mexican lunatic, and now he was dead with blood spattered on the wall. The next moment couldn’t have been more confusing. Papa Acachalla’s head sprung up as he screamed, “I’M _BACK_ FROM THE DEAD!!! BILLY!” he shouted towards the door.

His son slammed the door open, “YEAH?!”

"DON’T YOU JUST LOOOVE BEING BACK FROM THE DEAD?”

“AWWW YEAH!”

Behind Billy, the two officers ran after him. “I’m sorry,” O’Brain apologized, “The kid just ran out of the room yelling he had to bring his papa back from the dead. Is everything okay in here-,”

The private noticed Mr. Acachalla had a large red mark between his eyes and on the back of his head. He also saw the blood spatter on the wall, “What the-,”

“See?” Billy nagged, “I told you I needed to bring my Papa back from the dead.”

O’Brain and Pierson turned to their higher ups, “What?”

“He had gone hostile and we shot him,” Channon told them, flabbergasted himself.

“He just,” Utes was at a loss for words, “came back to life.”

“My bald head I did!” Papa got up, “Now if you’ll excuse me…” the time lord began to walk out of the room.

“Uh, Papa” Billy asked, tugging on his father’s denim cardigan, “What about them?”

The Kentucky man looked at his son, then back at the dumbfounded cops. “Oh!” He looked through his menu again, “Please be here,” he scrolled, “Ah! Here it is!” A memory wiper appeared in his hand. Papa made his son stand back and flashed the entire room. The four officers looked around blankly, “If you’ll excuse us.” Papa pardoned. The four nodded. Papa and Billy left the station.

Something occurred to Billy. “Papa?”

“What?”

“What do we do if they remember? I mean, doesn’t that memory wiper only have a 13 percent chance of fully wiping the memory?” Alarms started to blare from inside the station. The speakers blared _‘Find Papa Acachalla and Billy Acachalla. They are armed and dangerous. Don’t let them escape.’_

It was the bald man’s favorite part, “It does indeed,” he grinned at his son, “We run.”    


	10. Tears and Miracles

Bethany had sunk back into the living room couch, going through what happened again.

_"Do you have them yet?” Isaac asked._

_“You must be patient, HomelessGoomba,” Toast said, “These things can take a whi-,” her eyes widened, “Son of Venturiantale, I got it!”_

_“What?” Johnny cried, “It can take hours to locate something like this. That took no more than fifteen minutes! How?”_

_“I-it has to be a faster connection,” Toast stuttered, “For some reason, the Zero world has a better internet connection than us.” As she looked further into the coordinates, her brow furrowed, “Huh.”_

_"What is it?” Cierra asked._

_Toast tilted her head, “I- I think Casket is in North Vermont.” She zoomed in on the hologram, “He's in some forest in the middle of nowhere. What on earth is he doing there with Venturian? Why would Jimmy use an area where it’s so difficult to access people?”_

_Ghost was just as confused as his partner, “Yeah. It doesn’t seem much like him. I would’ve thought he’d try to blend into a big city and go on rampages every now and again.”_

_“Could it be a faulty signal or something?” Bethany suggested._

_Johnny shook his head, “No. This type of tracking has nothing to do with signals or cell phones. This finds that specific person through genes and stuff like that. A lot like a search engine on those computer thingies you guys use to contact and control worlds. Nothing can be used to deflect or block it.”_

_Isaac didn’t fully trust Ghost. From the role plays he somehow remembered, Ghost was the one who always caused trouble. HomelessGoomba got out of his seat, coming face to face with the paranormal investigator. Isaac was the one person in the room who was taller than Ghost and he used that to his advantage, “You are absolutely certain there is no possible way this could be a distraction or something that would take us farther from my brother?”_

_HomelessGoomba had become a dominant force over the past months, only making his height and size more intimidating for the paranormal investigator, “Yes.” Johnny stuttered, giving a shallow nod._

_He observed Ghost from top to bottom, looking for any sign that something, anything, might go wrong. Isaac looked Ghost in the eye. It was painful to look into those eyes. When Isaac first saw Ghost walking through the door, a fiery rage filled his gut. It didn't occur to him that this wasn't his brother. He stomped past everyone except Johnny. HomelessGoomba came towards his supposed brother, ready to punch him in the jaw for everything he had done. His sisters calmed him down before he did anything but, HomelessGoomba wouldn't have been able to stop himself if they didn't. If it wasn’t for their explanation, followed by Toast’s gender bent appearance, he would not be willing to believe anything that was going on. Isaac brought himself back to reality, remembering why he came to face Johnny. He gave Ghost a sharp glare, “If anything goes wrong,” HomelessGoomba threatened, grabbing Ghost’s wrist, “It’s on you.”_

_The paranormal investigator let out an unsteady breath. He couldn't blame him. How could Isaac trust him? He was made as an unreliable and arrogant character in Gmod. Why would he be any different here? Ghost gave a firm nod, “Understood,” he said turning the grip into the handshake, “You have my word. All the money’s on me,” Ghost turned to Cierra, “You drive?”_

_"Yeah. I’ll get the keys.” ImmortalKyodai jumped off the couch to get them._

_Bethany started to get off the couch and seat herself into the wheelchair, “What can I do to help?” she asked. Ghost, Toast, and Isaac went quiet. Almost nervous. When Cierra came back into the room, she fell into the same tongue-tied silence, “What?” P.I.E. and her two siblings began to break eye contact with her, one by one. The ginger looked down at her legs. She lifted one of them up, “It’s this, isn’t it?” BethanyFrye asked. The question was unnecessary. She knew._

_They were all afraid to say something, afraid to hurt Bethany. However, their actions hurt even more than anything they could say. Only Toast was brave enough to approach her. She walked over to Bethany, crouching down to make eye contact with her. God, how she hated that. It made her feel like a child, someone who couldn’t take care of themselves, “There is no easy way to say this, BethanyFrye, but,” Toast looked down at Bethany’s legs, “you’ll only slow us down. When facing Casket, we need to be able to react quickly. And, in a wheelchair, you can’t be- well…”_

_Bethany had heard enough. She rolled away from the Britt. Isaac tried to reach out to her, “Beth, it’s nothing personal. It’s for Jordan’s sake.”_

_"No! It’s fine! Fine!” the ginger snapped. She felt her voice hitch and tie into a knot. It had it difficult to speak. “ **Fine!** ” _

_She clearly wasn’t. Bethany paced around the hallway, unsure how to deal with what was going on inside her head. Everyone else was very cautious as well. Toast and Cierra wanted to make their way to Bethany and try to comfort her. However, Isaac and Ghost stopped each of them; their eyes saying to their corresponding person, ‘Leave her be. We need to get this done’. Each of them eased up in the exact same way, at almost the exact same time. Johnny Toast and ImmortalKyodai reluctantly left Bethany behind and headed for the car. What none of them saw was that she had begun to cry._

BethanyFrye’s eyes had dried during the past two hours and she had gone over this scene in her head God only knows how many times. What could’ve she done differently? Should she have fought back? Questions kept running through her head but, there was one in particular that she couldn’t keep away. _Am I really that useless?_ The question wouldn’t leave her alone. Even when she prayed, it'd be gone for a few moments but come back to haunt her every time. This demonic thought bit her and made it difficult to pray. She began to feel the bitterness she felt at the beginning of all of this. _“Jordan did this to me. He tried to kill me. Why did he do this to me? God, why did you let this happen to me?!”_ She caught herself. No. No! She had promised herself no more pity parties for herself. BethanyFrye wasn’t going to let herself fall into the same pit. It wasn't going to happen on her watch. God knew what he was doing and she trusted him. She would fight. She would fight to the end of the earth if she had to-

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. They came back? “Coming!” she cried. Bethany plopped into her wheelchair. Maybe there is something she can do. Maybe her paralysis doesn’t make her a dependent child. Maybe, just maybe, she has a chance to save her brother from the madness of Jimmy Casket.  

 

\-- 

             

Mama Gertrude and Sally Acachalla had gotten very lucky. They ended up in a city not too far away from the Frye home. The waffle demon wasn’t sure how but, only using some sort of intuitive sense, she managed to lead her mother to Venturiantale’s home. As they reached the door, Sally Acachalla scooped up her mother up, as Gertrude had lost feeling in her legs again. The closer to the home they got, the stronger, and more frequent, the reaction got. Despite the anomaly, this was the adventure of a lifetime! Through a small, but fairly busy, city, someone tried to mug them. Unfortunately, the criminal had no idea who he was messing with. Through Gertrude’s menu bracelet, she pulled out her handy dandy crowbar and whacked him in the head. Only twice, however. Gertrude only wanted to bring the mugger down to half heath. Mama and Sally had to keep in mind that these people, while they were sturdier than Gmod avatars, did not respawn.

While keeping her mom up, Sally knocked on the door of the Frye home. The two heard some crashing and someone yell ‘coming’. None other than BethanyFrye swung the door open. She was wearing an optimistic and hopeful smile that was replaced by an expression of utter surprise and heartbreak. Gertrude’s hair was in a red, curly bun with a few locks of hair falling on each side of her face. Bethany also saw Gertrude’s unsteady knees. Her creation had the same condition as her? Her attention turned to Sally, who looked like a slightly younger version of her sister in a tutu.

While it explained a great deal why Gertrude and a few of the BethanyFrye creations sometimes lost feeling in their legs, the idea of a disabled god to any Gmod avatar was inconceivable. Yet, before them, one of the Venturiantale creators was sitting in a wheelchair. Words sat on Bethany Frye’s tongue but, she couldn’t say a word.

Gertrude gently cleared her throat, “May we come in?”

 

\--

         

Two unbelievable visits in one day. Bethany wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take. The three made their way into the living room and sat down. As Sally gorged on another stack of spawned in waffles, BethanyFrye stared at Gertrude, as Gertrude did Bethany. Even if Bethany could wrap her head around the fact that her characters were real, Gertrude still couldn’t believe her own eyes. Mama always imagined that the creators were unbreakable. _Unkillable._ How was it possible that someone who formed ideas and made them real be so fragile? Finally, Gertrude mustered up the courage to ask something, “Where are the rest?”      

 Bethany was snapped out of her trance, “Huh?”

“You know. Venturian? ImmortalKyodai? HomelessGoomba?”

Their names felt like a heavy weight on her. _They left._ She thought. _They left me behind._ She felt herself begin to well up. BethanyFrye tried to swallow the knot in her throat. She had cried enough, “Th- they went after Jimmy Casket.”

Gertrude was taken back, “How do you know about him?”

Bethany managed to suppress the tears and regain her voice, “Johnny Ghost and Johnny Toast made it here before you guys. They explained everything and went after him.”

“Then, why are you here?” Gertrude asked. The ginger patted her numb leg in response. Gertrude understood what she meant, “I see. The paralysis. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Bethany shrugged, “There’s nothing that can be done.” 

Sally had been listening to their conversations so intently she put down her beloved waffles. She leaped out of her seat. “There is too something that can be done about it!” she cried, approaching Bethany, “I can help with this!” she said, holding up her bracelet. The gingers looked at her blankly. Sally sighed, “Watch.” She sharpened one of her teeth and bit her own finger. It was nothing too gory. Just enough for a cut. By now, Mama Gertrude and BethanyFrye were as curious as they were alarmed. She retracted her tooth, pulled out the Gmod menu, and went to the bio tab. The page looked like what you’d find on fanfiction characters online. It had age, height, weight, hair and eye color. The usual.

Mama was surprised how calm and businesslike Sally was during this entire process. However, when her daughter had passed the ‘Personality’ panel, Sally was quick to scroll through it. Like there was something she didn't want anyone to see. It was odd but, she knew her daughter wouldn't try to hide things from her so, she shrugged it off.

Finally, Sally came down to one specific panel: Scars and Disabilities. Below this tab, it said: _small cut on right index finger_. Sally double tapped the information and a keyboard appeared.

Sally selected the trait and held backspace. When that feature was deleted from the bio, she closed the menu and revealed her hand. Any sign of the cut was gone. Bethany was at a loss for words, “How did you do know about that?”

“Mama wanted to know what it was like to sleep, since we can’t in Gmod, and I got bored. At first, I beat up a few meanies trying to take things but then, I got bored of that too. So I came back to the corner where my Mama was sleeping and started to play with the bracelet thingy.”

Without a second thought, Sally began to take off her bracelet. Gertrude quickly covered the bracelet to try and stop her daughter, “What are you doing?” she scolded, “You know that you won't be able to respawn even if you take that off!”    

“I know. But it’s for BethanyFrye!”

Bethany scrunched her brow, “What do you mean?”

“You saw,” Sally said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “this bracelet can get you out of that wheelchair.”

BethanyFrye’s heart began to race. Get out of the wheelchair? As in no longer being paralyzed? “That is very kind of you,” Bethany stuttered, “But, are you sure? You're putting your life at risk!”

“It’s fine,” the waffle demon took off the bracelet, and put it on BethanyFrye’s wrist, “All I have to do is be more careful. I still have 100 health points. And saying you’ll be able to walk and dance like a beautiful princess again, it’s worth it!” 

Sally pushed Gertrude’s hand aside and took off the bracelet. Bethany was amazed by her selflessness. She knew that she only had one life. That one wrong move and she could die. Yet she was risking her life just so she could walk again. BethanyFrye had to take it. Not just for Sally, or herself. For Jordan.

BethanyFrye took a deep breath and opened the panel like how she saw Sally do it. As she scrolled through her bio, she came across a ‘Lives Changed’ list. It was filled with strangers that she could only think to be fellow adventurers who were changed by her life. Then she came to a ‘trivia’ panel that talked about some pieces of her YouTube and personal life. They were filled with so many happy memories that she had forgotten about in the past few months. BethanyFrye nearly broke into tears. As she passed through some more panels, she came to the one she was looking for: Scars and Disabilities. Only one thing sat below it: _paralyzed from the waist down._ With any unsteady hand, she double tapped the screen. A keyboard appeared. Bethany readied herself to delete the trait she had become so accustomed to having. A tiny part of her believed nothing would happen. That she would wake up from this, only being a pathetic dream that would quickly be forgotten. She wanted to try anyway. Bethany didn't care if she just woke up before anything happened. This feeling of hope gave her a feeling of satisfaction. Bethany held backspace.

As she began to delete the letters she felt a slight tingle in her legs: a sensation she thought she’d never feel again. The feeling alarmed her, causing Bethany to draw her hand away from the screen. She was excited but, she was scared as all hell too. Sally and Gertrude put their hands on her shoulders. She was filled her with a new sense of bravery. Before she could turn back, she held the backspace button to delete the last part of the paralysis. BethanyFrye felt the cold plastic and metal feet of the chair. She felt her legs. Bethany touched her thigh, reintroducing her legs to the sensation of touch. Now came the scariest part: standing up and walking. With some help from the two avatars, she was lifted out of the chair and her feet felt the warm carpet. Bethany had to remind herself how to walk. After a few tentative steps, she broke out into a smile. She was _walking._ It was all wonderfully impossible. She felt like she’d wake up from this dream come true any second.

Sally and Gertrude let go and let her walk on her own. Bethany kept her arms out for balance but, she remained fairly steady. She lost her footing for a second but, she was fine. BethanyFrye was _fine._ She had a sense of control she thought she’d never have again. Bethany eyed the front door and made a run for it. She burst through the door and ran around the front yard. She fell onto the ground due to her lack of walking before but, when she fell, she had the giddy laughter of a young child. Her hair was sprawled all over the grass and she didn’t have a single care in the world. She hadn’t felt this way since she had done YouTube videos with her siblings. That thought brought her back to reality. Her siblings. Jordan. Casket.

BethanyFrye sat up and looked back to the entryway. There Gertrude and Sally were standing in the doorway. Bethany felt a little awkward on the lawn and blushed a bit. “It’s okay.” Sally giggled, “You’re happy. I was hoping you’d do something like that.” The two approached the creator.

“Should we get going?” Gertrude asked, opening the menu to spawn in a car. Before them on the street was a blue, red, and yellow sports car. How fitting was that? They all got in. Bethany was in the driver’s seat, Gertrude in the passenger’s, and Sally in the back seat. “I can try to find where Jimmy is. Where did your siblings say they were going?”

Bethany tried to recall where they were headed, “I believe Toast said they were somewhere in Vermont.”

“Vermont? Where on earth is that?”

“It’s a few states away from where we are.”

Gertrude had zoomed into a map of the US and found it. “Okay! That should save us some time.” She selected the state and typed in the name ‘Jimmy Casket’. After about 30 seconds, the screen flashed to her: ‘There is no one named ‘Jimmy Casket’ within this region. “Where could he have gone?”

Bethany had an idea, “Try ‘Jordan Frye’. That’s how Toast found him.”

“It shouldn’t matter,” Gertrude mumbled to herself, “Anyone, from this world or not, should be found with this thingy. Unless he-,” she couldn’t finish.

But, Bethany could, “Unless Jimmy is in control of Jordan’s body,” the air became tense, “Search ‘Jordan Frye’. Now!”

Gertrude was already on it. In about the same time, it showed a little blue dot. There Jordan was. They couldn’t get a good view but, they had coordinates to work off of. “What are we waiting for?” Sally cried, “Let’s save Venturian!” Bethany turned on the car and they started to drive. Inside her head, BethanyFrye couldn’t help but, smile. She was no sitting duck. No more maybes. It was time to act. It was time for save Jordan Frye.


	11. Mazes and Hidden Eyes

"Out of all the things we could've faced," Johnny Ghost complained, "and we get the one we can't manipulate!" As soon as ImmortalKyodai, HomelessGoomba, Johnny Toast, and Johnny Ghost had got onto the main highway to Vermont, traffic hit them hard. The car had barely moved five miles in half an hour. 

"There was a reason why we're not using the no clip and teleportation in our bracelets, sir," The Brit told him, "Rules of 'reality' here are much riskier here and could cause-,"

"Dangerous side effects. I remember!" Ghost snapped, "You don't need to tell me a thousand times!"

"Only when you whine about it a thousand times."

Ghost crossed his arms and grumbled, "I don't whine. I 'express my concerns'," The paranormal investigators were awkwardly crammed into the backseats, only making P.I.E's situation more uncomfortable, "For goodness sake," he blurted out, "can it get any tighter back here!?" 

Meanwhile, the creators were in the front seats, each enjoying the bickering between their creations as they waited for traffic to clear up. When Isaac heard Ghost's question, he couldn't resist. Just to his luck, Johnny was right behind the passenger's seat, where HomelessGoomba was sitting. The troll, grinning from ear to ear, slid his seat into Ghost. ImmortalKyodai and Toast couldn't help but laugh at the paranormal investigator's colorful vocabulary. Cierra and Isaac were rather surprised that Ghost knew of those words but, they laughed anyway. This joking and bantering is the only thing that kept them from worrying about what they left behind and what they were going to face. 

\--

Venturian honestly had no idea how he was alive. There was not a day where a knife wasn't put to his throat. There wasn't a day where Casket didn't yell and laugh at him. 

He always fought, still. Whether it was jumping at Casket the best he could or just throwing around a clever word or two, he always protested Jimmy's control. Venturian had to get used to the pain, of course, but, he wasn't going to let himself become numb to the pain. He made it a personal goal to feel at least one thing each day. Happiness. Sadness. Pain. The more he felt, the better the day was to him. There were times when he was teenager and young adult where he felt absolutely nothing. And he hated it. Numbness killed him to a point that nothing could. It killed more than death itself. He made a promise to himself when he became a YouTuber to, inside and outside of his channel, never to be that hollow again. Despite it all, Jordan had no plans of breaking this promise to himself. Venturian was going to keep his head high, even if it meant that he was exposing his neck to Casket's knife.

For some reason, Casket was a little more talkative than normal. Jimmy had become less of one to talk, since there was little Jimmy was willing to talk about. It was almost like he was trying to control is sadistic impulses as he spoke, "You have a fascinating scream, Jordan Frye. It's not like the people we kill," Venturian flinched, "It's like you want to let it out but, something stops you," Casket waved the knife in front of Jordan's face, "I wonder what it is. An attempt to be tough? Obligation?" Jimmy flashed Venturian a wicked smile that made him sick, "Maybe both." Jordan had nothing to say. He knew that Casket was being rhetorical. The madman took a deep breath, as if savoring the air around him, "You seem a bit hungry. Is there anywhere you'd like me to go so you can get a bite to eat?" 

Venturian gave it some thought before glaring at Casket with a happily smug smile on his face, ready for whatever consequence Jimmy was going to give for his answer, "As far as you can get from me."

The madman didn't threaten to do anything harmful, like he expected. Instead, he let out a shrill chuckle, "Very funny. Nowhere it is."

Jimmy vanished from his sight. Jordan wasn't sure what he dreaded more. He fact he couldn't see Casket, or the fact he laughed before he was gone. When Jimmy hides, it means one of two things. One, he's trying to mess with his head. Two, Jimmy Casket wanted to go into the maze with him again. Jordan began to feel light headed and fell on his side. It looked like they were on their way to the maze. 

\--

Venturian woke to the cold air biting his face. Jordan sat up and took a deep breath, revealing an icy mist when he exhaled. Jordan got to his feet and heard that all too familiar laugh echo throughout the walls of the all too familiar maze. _Of course,_ Venturian thought, _let's get this over with._ As far as Jordan could tell, from his many previous endeavors here, there was no escape. Jimmy always found him. And he never had any mercy, no matter how much Jordan begged for him to. _Might as well go down trying._ Venturian thought before beginning his run. He took the usual turns, sometimes mixing it up to change the routine. Tonight, it looked like Casket was in a mood to go the psychological route. Every now and again, Jordan would see glimpses of his family. The memories of Cierra, Isaac, Bethany, and his mother were bittersweet, now that they were fading. Venturian avoided the turns his family was on, learning that following his family led to a slow psychological torment of hateful words and disapproval. Even though he avoided the routes with his family Jordan always saw them out of the corner of his eye. 

From those glimpses, he could see these things that resembled his family were empty shells. No matter what Jimmy Casket tried, he could never get the slates to resemble any human soul. He could get the tone of voice right but, Jimmy could never perfect the look of humanity. Casket never tried. The blankness of his family's expressions scared Jordan more than any emotion the madman could simulate. 

Not to his surprise, he hit a dead end. As usual, that same cold, concrete wall filled Venturian with an instinctive fear he could not control. It was a feeling of being cornered. The fear of a wild animal. When he turned around, Venturian saw the empty shells slowing walking towards him. At least this gave him memory of what his siblings and mother looked like, in a time where past memories were slipping away. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember who they were. He knew their names but, who they were as people had slipped away from him. Forcing to leave his memories behind to remember how to survive, _to lose his human civility_ , it was unimaginable. 

Venturian felt the sharp, cool blade against the back his neck. It was none other than the one person he least desired to see, "Scary isn't it?" Casket asked, "To see the people you were closest to and having no idea who they are." 

"They're still my family. I still love them." Jordan was shoved into the people in front of him.  
The empty group turned him around, firmly holding him in place. Casket gave Venturian that same old smile that he had learned to hate. Even though he hated it, Jordan couldn't help to fear it as well.

"I wouldn't say that for certain." The psychopath came close enough for Jordan to catch a whiff the unmistakable smell of fresh blood. That scent had been on his hands far too often. Jordan remembered begging for Jimmy to take him to the nearest river to get the blood washed off his hands and clothes, "You'd be surprised how people can change. You should know." Casket brought the knife's edge to his throat, "I changed you." Jimmy Casket slid the knife across Venturian's throat. His 'family' let go of Jordan and he fell to the ground. Jordan knew there was no point to try and get up but, with the last moments he had, Venturian gave Jimmy the most genuinely hateful look he could muster, just like all the other times when the madman slit his throat. Or beat him to death. Or stabbed him.

\--

Venturian always returned in a panic. He'd try to spring up from his restrictions and he'd always let out a cry of pain from forgetting about the cuffs. Jordan hated Jimmy most when he was in that comatose dream-like world.

And when a night came. A night where Casket was going to kill. Venturian could always tell. Jimmy always got antsier when he wanted to go on a killing spree. Unfortunately, he also got more aggressive towards Jordan in that state when he wanted to go out. This meant more slashes in that place. More pain in that place. More tortuous time in that place. Jimmy's itchy trigger finger made him less picky to how his sadistic mind wanted to cause the pain. Then, it just happens. It could take only a few hours of this anxiety before he decides to go. It could be days. 

Then, when Jordan least expected it, he felt overwhelming feeling of something trying to shove his mind out of the way hit him like a truck. In the background, he could hear the adrenaline run through his veins. Jordan also feels that same creepy smile etch onto his face. The terrifying experience of Casket taking his body hadn't lost its edge whatsoever. Because this is a less frequent occurrence, Venturian hardly had any experience in how to stop this from happening, only adding terror to what was happening. Jimmy's laughing would echo in his head until it'd make his way to his lips. As he began to cackle, Jordan's eyes became that bright red and he'd have no other choice but to submit to Jimmy Casket's choices. This was the one scenario where Casket would not allow him to fight.

\--

Gertrude, Sally, and Bethany had taken some less busy roads got get here to avoid the traffic. They had driven onto a gravel road, not far from the forest they were lead to. The forest edge was no more than 50 feet away from them. They had talked about what to do next. 

"I don't think we should split up, BethanyFrye," Sally warned her, "Jimmy does try to pick people off one by one." 

"I don't believe Jimmy cares," Bethany explained, "I think he just wants to kill." 

"I still think we have a better chance if we stick together." 

Bethany nodded, "You do have a point." 

"Okay," Gertrude agreed, "Now I think we should focus on weapons. Of course, I'm going with the crowbar."

"Could I have a Davy Crocket?" Sally asked.

"No!" the creator and her mother cried. 

The waffle demon giggled, "I'm kidding. I know it's dangerous here. I'll just go for a pistol." 

Gertrude sighed in relief, "Okay. Forty-four magnum it is." she spawned in a crowbar and a pistol. She turned to BethanyFrye, "I'm guessing you want a crowbar too?" 

While Bethany would've preferred something she could defend herself from farther away, nothing else felt right and safe other than the classic crowbar, "Sure." 

Gertrude spawns in a second crowbar, "Okie-dokie then." 

Just as the three began to walk out towards the forest where Jimmy and Venturian were, someone was running away from the trees, looking over his shoulder as if someone was chasing him. Bethany couldn't make out much from where she was but, saw that he had shaggy, brown hair and a blue hoodie. The man barely noticed BethanyFrye until he collided into her, slamming each of them into the blue, red, and yellow sports car. Each of them were recovering from the impact. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" he shook the hair out of eyes, "Are you okay lady-," A flash of recognition came over each of them, "Bethany?" 

"Jordan?" The ginger had no idea what to say. Before she knew it, her brother brought her into a ginormous bear hug, Bethany pulled him out of it, "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Yeah, I-I'm fine," Venturian stuttered. He still seemed shaken, "I managed to get away. I-I don't know how but, I escaped!"

Gertrude and Sally were just as surprised by this. All of this was coming together much quicker than expected. They weren't going to let this opportunity get away from them, "We're not out of the woods yet," Gertrude warned, "Casket probably isn't far behind."

"Yeah," Sally agreed, "Let's get far away from here before Jimmy catches up." 

Everyone starts to get into the car. Except Jordan. BethanyFrye got out of the car, "What is it?" she asked, "We got no time to lose."  

Jordan appears torn between the car and the forest, "I don't know. Something doesn't seem right." 

"What doesn't seem right?" Sally asked, getting out of the car, followed by her mother. 

Venturian bit his lip, "What if we lose him?" he pondered, "What if he tries hurting people without me?"

"Then that'll give us more time to get you to a safe place. You've gone through enough." Gertrude told him. 

"It's not about me," Jordan cried, becoming more anxious, "It's about the people he might kill." He made a compelling point. If Casket lost Jordan, he may try to kill people. And what if he's able to without him? People's lives would be at risk.

"Okay, how about this?" Gertrude suggested, "You stay here, we go check on Jimmy, try to slow him down and come back." 

"No. You guys don't know the way. We need to go there together. I'll lead." Venturian stomped back into the forest, leaving Gertrude, Sally, and Bethany no other choice but to follow. Bethany couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with her brother. Sure, he had a dominant personality but, never to the extreme where he tries to convince an entire group to follow his idea when he knows they're against it. Jordan's time in the forest could've done this to him. Whatever was going on inside Venturian's head, BethanyFrye ignored her gut instinct and followed her brother into the forest.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry it took me so long to publish! Hopefully it was worth the wait. ;) Let me know how I'm doing. I value your opinions and critiques!


	12. Teleportation and Gunshots

Nobody said anything as they went deeper into the forest. That gut feeling BethanyFrye had earlier was still nagging at her. She thought Jordan would be more talkative than this, especially saying he’s had nobody to talk to for months. He could’ve trained himself to keep quiet for his own sake so Jimmy wouldn’t hurt him. If that was all, she’d be fine. Another thing that bothered her was the difference between the Jordan that ran out of the forest and the one that marched back in. That change in confidence didn’t feel right to her, neither did the way he carried himself. For being with Jimmy for as long as he was, you’d think he’d at least be a little shaken to come back here, even if it was to do the right thing. Yet, he walked without a single fear in the world. She guessed that’s just who Jordan was. Someone who could be up and chipper, even after they’ve gone through hell. That is the Jordan she knew.   
After what seemed like quite a long time of thinking and walking, Bethany came to her brother’s side, “Are you okay?”   
He jumped at her voice, “Huh?” Jordan squeaked before clearing his throat, “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Just thinking.”  
“About what?”   
The question made him nervous. Venturian let out a small, unusual chuckle, “You know what? I don’t remember. As soon as you started talking, I forgot what I was thinking about.”   
“I’m sorry.”   
“No, no. It’s okay. If it was important it’ll come back to me.”   
The four of them continued walking. Sally trotted up to Jordan, followed by Gertrude, “Do you have any ideas on how we can slow him down quickly?” the waffle girl asked.   
“I think I have an idea,” he told her, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell you here. We can never know where Jimmy is. I’ve tried to escape before. Sometimes he played with me, giving me hope and taking it away at the last second. It was horrible.” Jordan looked beyond with a grim expression on his face. He quickly shook it off, “Anyway, I think we’re getting close. Follow me.” He made a sudden turn and they all followed. After a few minutes, the group was finally there. A few specs of brick and concrete could be seen through a few small clearings in the trees. They hid behind a large bush, where a large piece of the building was missing. Most likely due to a lack of care over time.   
“This is where you were held?” Gertrude asked. Jordan nodded. She frowned, “He could’ve chosen somewhere cozier for you to stay,” she said in an oddly serious tone, “something tells me you had some rough nights on that concrete floor.”  
He let out an uneasy laugh, “You got that right.” In her pity, Gertrude gave him a motherly kiss on the top of his head, and brought him into a side hug. Bethany and Sally joined in.   
“At least it’ll all be over soon.” Sally chirped.     
“Yeah,” Jordan laughed, “It’ll be over soon, alright.”   
As they were keeping an eye out of Jimmy, Sally realized something, “Venturian, can you tell us now what the plan is, now?”   
He gave it some thought and looked over both his shoulders, “Why, yes. I think were in the clear now.” Jordan looked at Sally in the eyes as he let the lies slip away. Starting with his eyes. The brown retreated, immediately replacing them with that fear-inducing red. Then, he smiled. It wasn’t a happy, carefree smile but, a deep, ‘I know you didn’t see this coming’ smile. For the first time in her life, Sally felt fear. Not the childish fear she knew. A spine chilling, heart stopping, ‘my life is in danger’ dread. Jimmy Casket pulled out his knife, disarmed Sally, and put Knifey to her neck. Gertrude and Bethany had no idea what had hit them, “I’m quite the actor, huh? Just imagine the look on Jordan’s face when he sees you guys. And he thought I was going after my typical monthly spree.” Jimmy let out his madman’s laugh, “Now, you’re going to tell me what those bracelets are, or the girl gets it.” Gertrude and Bethany had no other choice but to follow.   
Jimmy lured them into the building, fearing for Sally’s life. He was unsure of what but, he knew she was vulnerable. It had to be her reaction to the knife. In Gmod, Sally wouldn’t have hesitated to fight, not fearing death in the slightest. Here, the psychopath could see genuine fear in her eyes, along with Gertrude and BethanyFrye. Jimmy then remembered what he did to Bethany. He made sure he couldn’t run away from him before he was rudely interrupted by Cierra and Isaac all those months before. BethanyFrye shouldn’t be able to walk.   
He noticed something else. The strange things on both the gingers’ wrists. That green computer chip bracelet. Gertrude and Bethany each had one. Jimmy looked at Sally’s wrist with his free hand. She did not. A smile spread onto the madman’s face. He turned to the gingers, “What are those?”  
The two cocked their heads, “Huh?”   
“On your wrists,” Jimmy clarified with growing interest, “What are those things on your wrists?”      
When Bethany and Gertrude realized what he was talking about, a sharp pit hollowed their stomachs. The creator held her ground, “Why should we tell you?” Bethany questioned.   
“Because if you don’t,” he brought the knife closer to Sally’s neck, “the girl who doesn’t gets it.”   
Sally was whimpering but, Jimmy didn’t care. He kept bringing Knifey closer to her throat and the gingers were panicking. “They’re what brought us here!” Gertrude blurted.  
He stopped but, didn’t take the knife away, “That’s all they do?” Jimmy questioned.   
“Well, that’s not everything they can do. They’re also what-,” Bethany quickly shushed Gertrude.  
Jimmy’s arm with the knife tensed, “There’s more. Pray tell, what?” Gertrude and Bethany shot each other nervous glances. What were they going to do? What could they do? “Tell me now or she dies.” Sally let out a scream as Jimmy prepared to slit her throat.   
Bethany gave in, “Okay, okay, okay! I’ll tell you anything! Just stop!” The madman let Sally fall. She dropped to the ground and sprinted towards her mother, holding tightly onto her leg.  
“Anything?” Jimmy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was making BethanyFrye, one of the creators, beg for one of their creations, him, “Okay then, I do have one big question,” he approached Bethany with that maddening smile, “how are you standing? I know I made sure you’d never walk again. It’s making me mad. And you won’t like me mad.”   
Bethany didn’t want to tell Jimmy why, fearing she’d say too much, but, she saw no other alternative. She threw up her wrist with the bracelet on it, “This,” she explained, “Through a few programming tricks, I was able to walk again. Sally showed me how and I just-,” Jimmy snapped the bracelet off Bethany’s wrist, “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”   
“Yeah,” Gertrude added, “Be careful with that! Those things are very fragile.”   
Jimmy smiled again, “Are they, now?” he said, observing the chip with little interest. He threw it onto the ground and stepped on the bracelet. They all heard a sickening crack. When he lifted his foot, little shards of the chip were stuck in his sneaker while others were scattered on the ground.   
The sight horrified them all. If only that was it. As soon as the bracelet had broken, Bethany lost feeling in her legs, again. She fell forward and landed onto some of the jagged pieces of the chip. The sharp pieces cutting into her skin were the least of her worries. Jimmy ran to Gertrude and did the same thing to her bracelet.   
He shoved the other two to the ground, “Stay there. If you run,” he put away the knife and pulled out Sally’s revolver, tossing it from hand to hand, “You won’t get very far. I am a very good shot, even though I love Knifey very much.” Jimmy walked into the nearest corner, “I can see Jordan’s face now, when he sees you guys on the ground. I don’t even think I’m going to use handcuffs.” He crouched down and let go of his control of Jordan.

\--  
  
They had gotten away from the traffic but, Johnny Ghost was still in a sour mood because of it, “We should’ve gotten there hours ago if it wasn’t for those idiots who got in our way!”   
“Well, sir,” Johnny Toast started, “That’s a bit of a hyperbole.”   
“Hyberol-what?” Ghost snapped.   
“An over exaggeration, sir.”   
“Of course it is!” he threw his hands up in the air, only to smack his hands onto the car roof, “You know what?” Ghost opened the car door, “I’m getting out of this car!”    
By then, the car was going about 60 miles an hour so, when the car door was opened, Cierra and Isaac were panicking, “Are you crazy?” HomelessGoomba snapped, “You’re going to get yourself killed!”   
“Oh please! I’ve jumped out of faster things.”  
“In places where you can come back!” Toast told him.   
“The bracelet, remember? The one you built?”  
“Sir, it’s very fragile. If it breaks, at the speed we’re going you’ll per-,” Before Toast could finish her sentence, Ghost unbuckled his seat belt and threw himself out the car door. “ish.” Cierra immediately hit the brakes to get him back. Everyone got out of the car and ran towards Ghost, who was about 200 feet away. From what they could see, Ghost was okay. He was able to get up. When they got closer, they saw he had a nasty gash over his right eyebrow. Fortunately for him the bracelet didn’t break so, it was healing rather quickly. When Toast got to him, she slapped him, “Have you lost your bloody mind? If that thing broke, you’d be roadkill!”   
“But it didn’t,” Ghost sang, mockingly swinging it in front of the Brit’s face.  
“You’re so bloody lucky it’s not a full moon.”   
“Trust me, I know.” Ghost grinned, “You gotta trust me sometimes.”   
“Shut up and get back to the car.” Toast commanded, dragging Ghost by the wrist.   
“No way!” Johnny cried, “We’ve wasted too much time already.”   
“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Isaac asked, “Teleport?”   
Ghost clicked his tongue, “That is what I’m thinking.”  
Toast was dumbfounded by her partner, “Well, aren’t you full of great ideas today?” she snapped sarcastically, “First, you jump out of a car in the zero world. Now you want to risk dismembering yourself apart though teleporting!”      
“I’m serious. I’m not being impatient,” all three glared at him, “I’m not just being impatient. We have no idea what Jimmy is doing but, we need to get to him now. At first I was okay with waiting but, I don’t think we can wait any longer.”   
“Why do you think that?” Toast asked.  
“I can feel Jimmy again. I can’t see through his eyes anymore but, I can sense what he feels in the back of my mind. He always feels a certain way when he’s just about to kill. We need to get to him now.”   
“But, sir, the side effects of teleportation could be very ugly here-,”  
“Now.” Ghost growled.   
Her partner’s reaction scared her. He hadn’t acted like that since Jimmy tried to take over. In the back of her mind, Toast knew he wasn’t taking over but, it was with the same urgency. She turned to Cierra and Isaac, “Cierra, grab his hand. Isaac, take my hand. We have to take the risk.” ImmortalKyodai and HomelessGoomba followed Toast’s command. The paranormal investigators pulled up the menu, got past a password protected area that read, ‘coordinates of teleportation’. There was also a select map option. They each selected that. Zooming in on the place they had gotten familiar with, they presses a certain spot on the map. Ghost and Toast checked with each other that they didn’t end up on the same coordinates. When they made sure of that, they selected the large red button that said ‘teleport’. Before they knew it, they were on their way to Jimmy’s hideout.

\--  
  
Jordan woke up in a haze. That’s always how it went. Jimmy would wake him up and, in bits and pieces, show him everything that happened. It bothered him how he only had access to the memory’s the madman let him have but, he’d try to move past it. There was nothing he could do about it. When Venturian opened his eyes, he couldn’t make out who he was looking at.   
There were three people before him. They all laid on the ground, out cold. Using his strange physical freedom, he leaped to them, making sure each and every one of them were okay. He flipped each of them over. As he did, Jordan felt his left hand twitch. Casket’s warning sign. Venturian quickly brought his hand into a fist, trying his best to suppress Jimmy’s control. He knew he couldn’t fight him off forever but, Jordan had to hold his ground for now.   
When he got a better look, things only got more confusing. Two of them looked like Bethany. One had their hair in a bun, the other had her hair down. The third looked like Cierra in a pink tutu and scrunchie. Fortunately, none of them were hurt.   
It was like some weird dream. The only time ImmortalKyodai dressed like that was to make a joke at home. What on earth was going on? All three began to wake up and Jordan didn’t get the reaction he expected. The Bethany without a bun tried to scurry away with her arms. It looked like her legs were dead weight. She was only able to sit up.     
BethanyFrye couldn’t trust who was before her, “J- Jordan? Is that you?”  
He gave an unsteady nod, “Yeah. Who else could it be?” he stepped closer to his sister, “How on earth did you get here? Who are the other guys?”   
Bethany shook her head, “That isn’t important. We need to get you out of here. Right now.” She grabbed her brother’s hand and tugged at it, insisting he leave the decrepit building.   
“No, no. I can’t!” Jordan cried, “Getting me out of here won’t do anything,” He bit his tongue. Would she really believe what he was about to tell her? “Jimmy Casket is stuck in my head,” he turned to face all of them, feeling himself lose his body, “Get out of here before he gets me back,” Everyone was at a loss for words. This was Jordan, alright. Jimmy could never fake selflessness. He’d never think to do so. They all knew it. Everyone felt stuck in their places.   
Bethany did the only thing she thought would help. She pull her brother into a hug. He didn’t fight it. He couldn’t fight anything else. Jordan accepted the hug. After about a minute, he let go of the hug, “Thank you.” A sharp, soulless voice said, “That hug was the final blow I needed.”    
Gertrude tightened her grip on the crowbar, “How could you, Jimmy?” she growled, “Taking advantage of a creator to get what you want. You heartless, terrible son of a-,” Jimmy brought the revolver to her head.       
“Now, now,” he cooed, “It’s nothing personal. It’s just a little entertainment. You should know.”    
His words upset Sally as well, who stood by her mother’s side, “At least our entertainment helped people once. Yours only kills.” Jimmy moved the gun to her. At first, the gun made her jump. She thought of backing down. But then, she saw her mother’s legs weaken again. She was going to stand tall for her mother, even if it meant her life, “Go ahead,” Sally taunted, “I’m not afraid. I’ve died before.”   
Jimmy gave Sally a maddening yet calculating look. He was thinking, “You don’t mind dying, huh?” He smiled, “Then I guess I’ll save you for last,” Jimmy shoved Sally out of the way, “Let’s see. Should I just shoot Beth-Beth and let your mommy die with her or should I start with Mama Gertrude and then get BethanyFrye?” He pretended to think, “I’ll go with the double kill.”  Jimmy brought the cold barrel of the revolver between Gertrude’s eyes.   
She turned her attention to her daughter, “I’m sorry, Sally. Maybe God will have some space for us in heaven.” Just as the gun was fired, someone came through a white portal and fell onto Jimmy, causing the bullet to graze the side of Gertrude’s head. She was able to ignore the pain when she saw who it was that got through the portal. It was none other than Johnny Toast herself, followed by HomelessGoomba. It was a very pleasant surprise to see another one of the creators. Unlike the investigator who landed on the madman, Isaac solidly landed on his feet. When he saw Bethany, he didn’t even bother asking how she got here or why the others were there; he just scooped up his paralyzed sister.   
Jimmy was dumbfounded by the Brit’s change. He burst into his madman’s laughter as he pushed her off and got to his feet, “Johnny Toast, this is an interesting surprise, to say the least. But, that was a very rude interruption. Now if you’ll excuse me-,” A red portal poped open and another person fell on top of him. It was Cierra and Ghost landed nicely onto the ground, “Oh come on! That’s gotta be an ImmortalKyodai thing! There’s no way that was planned!” he said, trying to get up again. This time, Ghost was quicker. He took Jimmy’s gun, grabbed his wrists and held them behind his back.   
The madman let out a little laugh, “Why don’t you look familiar.”  
Ghost still hated that laughter. He knew he’d never get over it, “I wish that wasn’t the case.”  
“But it is,” Jimmy grinned, “now, if you could let me go, I’d really appreciate it.”   
“I’m afraid we can’t do that.” Toast told him, “We do not plan of letting you out of our custody.”                    
The madman sighed, “Looks like we’re going to have to do this the hard way.” With no stuggle, Jimmy unleased himself from Ghost’s grip and got the revolver back. The second he had the gun back, he went for his easiest target, Bethany. Because Isaac was in his arms, his first instinct was to run from him, “Take one more step, and I finish the job, right in your arms. I’m not afraid to hurt you either.” HomelessGoomba stopped as quickly as he started, “Good. Ghost, Toast, take off the bracelet thingys. I know what they do.”   
Ghost scoffed, “You really are insane if you think we’re going to-,” Casket brought the gun closer to Isaac and Bethany, shutting him up.   
“We need to, sir.” The Brit said.   
“What?! Are you nuts?” Ghost cried.     
“Not as nuts as the guy who is trying to kill two of the creators!” Toast snapped, “Just listen to Jimmy. Rebellion isn’t going to do any good.”  
“No way! He’s just going to shoot them anyways!”  
“How do you know that?” Ghost glared at his partner, “Stupid question. We’re just putting them at risk if we don’t. It’s not about you! We need to do this for them.”   
He didn’t like the idea in the slightest. Ghost kept glancing to his partner, to Jimmy, to HomelessGoomba and BethanyFrye, their eyes begging for their lives. He let out an unhappy sigh. He and Toast took off their bracelets and put their hands to their heads, showing that they were unarmed.   
Jimmy Casket smiled, “Good PIEs,” he turned to Isaac and Cierra, “You know, Johnny was right, I’m going to shoot you anyways,” he steadied his hand, “Goodbye.” A gunshot blasted through the air.


	13. Soul Binders and Goodbyes

Papa and Billy Acachalla had been hitchhiking across the state, getting kicked out of the cars they had gotten rides from. Whether it was out of annoyance or fear, neither of them could tell.  
At the moment, they had no time to think about their creator's troubles. "Papa," Billy complained, "I'm bored."

"Then make yourself unbored." Papa told his son. 

"How am I supposed to do that?" he whined.

"I don't know!" the Kentucky man snapped, "Maybe there's something inside the menu you can entertain yourself with. Maybe a mod or somthin'. Just quit botherin' me." 

With Annabelle in hand, Papa and Billy continued on their way. As Billy scrolled through some of the mods, "Sonic screwdriver, nah. Waffle gun? That would be more fun if Sally was with us..." 

"Thank Venturiantale she isn't." Papa mumbled to himself.

Even though his very 'interesting' son was keeping his mind occupied, he was worried about Sally and Gertrude. All he could do is hope that is wife and daughter were doing alright. Maybe they already found Venturian and the others. The thought of the creators made him worry as well. He hoped that they were doing okay too- "Hey!" Billy cried, "Johnny Toast put in The Bird Wings Mod!" Papa's heart fell to the floor. What was he- what was she thinking? "Hold me, Papa!" Billy leapt into his father's arms and ragdolled in his arms, shoving Papa's shotgun to the ground.

Papa Acachalla let out a huff of air, "Well, this can only end badly." 

After about a minute of awkward standing around, Billy popped back to life with large white wings on his back, "KA-KAW!" Papa dropped his son on the ground and ran for Annabelle, "Come on, Papa! Let's fly."

"No, Billy. Let's _not_ fly."

"KA-KAW!" he screeched, retrieving a physics gun from the menu. 

" _Billy!_ Stop this right now! You're acting like a-" Billy activated the gun on his father, forcing him to shut up. 

"I can't stop, Papa! I'm a bird! And I don't care. Cause I'm a-" He thrusted the gun up into the air, causing Papa Acachalla to lose connection with the thin line that held him to it, "Whoops." Billy darted into the air and caught up to his dad. He re-established a connection between the gun and Papa, "I got you!" 

"I swear," he shook his head, "You are the dumbest kid in the whole freaking universe." 

"I know." Billy grinned. The physics gun couldn't hold Papa's weight and they began to fall out of the sky. Below them was a dense forest, fortunately. Unfortunately, Papa snapped most of the twigs from out under them, causing them to land on the, hard, rocky dirt. When they looked up, there was a complete clearing for the sun to go through the forest. Billy whistled, "You're heavy, Papa."

"I'm not heavy!" Papa snapped, "I'm _thick_. There's a difference." 

"Not really." 

The Kentucky man was ready to shoot his son in the head when they heard a shrill, high-pitched laughter. It sent chills down each of their spines. Papa and Billy looked each other in the eye. Only one person they knew had a laugh like that. They snuck over to the noise and saw a small clearing to a worn-down building.  

They hid behind a few bushes to see what was going on. They saw that Jimmy Casket had a gun aimed at HomelessGoomba and Bethany Frye, who was in Isaac's arms, while Johnny Ghost and Toast were placing something one the ground. It was the bracelets. What on earth were they thinking? 

Gertrude and Sally were on the ground. Papa couldn't tell if they couldn't get up or were told not to by the idiotic psychopath. Gertrude was looking around, probably for a way for all of them to escape. When she spotted her husband, she was both elated and horrified. She didn't want her husband to get involved in this too. 

Papa was just about to storm into the place as Gertrude quickly shook her head at him. He saw her eyes say 'Don't go in there yet. It's too dangerous'. Against every bone in his body, against the core aggressive instinct that is Papa Acachalla, he obeyed. Papa pointed his gun at Casket, waiting for his wife's command.  

They saw Jimmy Casket smile, "Good PIEs," he turned to Isaac and Cierra, "You know, Johnny was right, I'm going to shoot you anyways," Papa steadied his gun, "Goodbye." The shotgun shell flew out of the barrel, causing Jimmy to miss BethanyFrye and HomelessGoomba. The shell graze the side of his head and blew up on the concrete floor. Jimmy fell to the ground, making sure the hit wasn't too bad. 

Papa jumped out of his hiding place and headed straight for Gertrude and Sally, trying to help them up, "Are you two alright?" He didn't let either of his girls answer, "You son of Venturian," Papa growled at Jimmy, "What do you think you're doing?" 

Jimmy was getting to his feet as Papa Acachalla threw his fist at the madman. He grabbed the fist being swung at him, "Eh-eh-eh," Jimmy warned, "Are you sure you want to do that?" 

"What the heck are you talking about?" He swung again. 

Jimmy dodged it with ease, "It's not like if I hurt you or Ghost," he explained, a mad look sparkling in his eye, "Frye and I are connected on a very different level," Jimmy disconnected himself from Jordan's body. 

Venturian regained his consciousness, "Papa Acachalla?"

"Shut up! I'm in the middle of something," Jimmy exclaimed, turning his attention back to Papa, "You hit me, you hit Venturian. Kill me, you kill him. And you know what would happen if he died." Papa bit his tongue. He and the other avatars have heard about characters from other channels fading from existence after the channel or the creator of said channel died. It's never happened to them but, the lore was a good horror story when Venturiantale was offline. However, it had become a real threat over the months. 

In the meantime, Cierra grabbed Jordan and brought him to his other siblings. The feeling of family was satisfying. Jordan never thought he'd be able to be with them again, at least not in this world. Even in this warmth, nobody could shake the feeling of dread they all felt, creators and avatars alike. 

"Go on," Jimmy taunted, "Hit me, fat man, hit me. I know you want to. What are you waiting for? Don't you want to know my secret?" 

In his blind rage, for what Jimmy has done to the creators, for what he has done to his family, Papa dropped Anabelle and punched him square in the jaw, "Hold him down, Billy." He called out to the bushes. 

"I got him, Papa!" Billy yelped, jumping out from where he was hiding. That kid may have been tiny but, his hyperactivity gave him supernatural strength. He tackled Jimmy to the ground, pinning him to the ground, "You happy, Papa?"  

"Yes, Billy, I'm happy." They heard a yelp from the creators. Venturian had fallen to his knees, clutching his jaw and the side of his head, exactly where Jimmy was hit.

Ghost ran to Venturian, "Are you alright?" he asked.

"No," Jordan murmured, "It really hurts." 

Everyone heard Jimmy's laugh. In Billy's distraction, the madman shoved him off, "See? I told you that's what was going to happen. Anything you do to me, it'll happen to him. What are you going to do now, huh?"

"It's fine guys!" Jordan begged, "Don't worry about me! If it means he can't hurt anyone else, kill him! Don't let me get in the way!" 

Johnny Ghost crouched in front of his creator. It was weird, to see Venturian beg. He always seemed indestructible yet, with one wrong move, he'd be a goner. And so would he. "You don't understand," Ghost explained, "You are the only one keeping us alive. If you were to die, we'd go too." 

Jordan was at a loss for words. Like a wild animal, his eyes darted around his surroundings, as if a solution could be found in the bricks or the trees. 

Strangely enough, one did. "I'm terribly sorry, sir." A British accent apologized to Venturian as she caught Jimmy in a chokehold. While all of this was happening, Johnny Toast had gone back into the forest and sneaked out of everyone's sight to sneak up on him. 

"Hey, hey, hey!" Jimmy demanded, "What are you doing?" He squirmed and smacked Toast but, she held her ground. She used a few pressure points to distract Jimmy he began to feel lightheaded and stop fighting. His reaction was quite humorous, in all honesty. When he felt the pain, he let out a cry like his host did when the siblings wrestled around when they were little. 

Unfortunately, a similar thing happened to Venturian. He felt the asphyxiation and pressure points, making him let out the exact same cry, only moments after Jimmy. Toast kept apologizing over and over again as she was holding him. Everyone who could congregated around Jordan to ease him down as he lost his balance. Soon, each of them were out cold. 

Everybody sighed, "What are we going to do now?" Cierra asked.

"Don't worry," Toast disclosed, "I know what to do. Acachalla?" 

"Yes?" Papa asked. 

"I need you to look up 'Soul Binder'."

"Why? What does that have to do with-,"

"Just to it!" she snapped, "I don't know how long that will keep him out," Papa opened up his menu and typed each letter, piece by piece. Papa was never really acquainted with a keyboard. It's much more different than a remote control, making it all the more difficult, "For goodness sake," Toast snapped, "Let me get that!" She finished it for Papa and pulled it out of the menu. The Soul Binder materialized on the ground. It was a large glass cylinder with a sharp tip on one end. Almost like a large syringe. Toast picked it up and made her way towards Jordan. She took his hand and pricked his finger with it. He awoke in a gasp, feeling much lighter within than he had when he passed out. 

Isaac and Cierra ran over to him. Isaac placed Bethany down so she could hug him and, boy, did she take the opportunity, "Thank goodness you're alright! Are you okay?" Bethany asked. 

Jordan was dumbfounded by how he felt. It left like a heavy weight was lifted off his shoulders. A weight he was fairly confident that he'd have to bear that for the rest of his life. Obviously he was wrong, "Y- yeah," he stuttered, "Uh, Toast, w- what did you do?" 

"I took away the bond that linked Jimmy to you," she explained, "However he connected himself to you, it's no more." Sally, Gertrude, and the siblings let out a cry of joy. Venturian was free of that evil madman. Even Papa Acachalla let out a satisfied smirk. 

Johnny had mixed feelings, "It was _that_ easy?" Ghost snapped, "Why didn't you tell me?" 

"It wasn't that easy. You wouldn't have wanted to install that mod." 

"Why not?" 

"Because the downloading of this specific mod took a month to do so _and_ make sure it'd work. You wouldn't have had the patience to wait." 

Johnny had no defense. His partner knew him too well, "So, what are we supposed to do now? Just delete it and Jimmy is taken care of?" 

Toast shook her head, "I'm afraid not. I wish it was that easy," she looked at the Binder, "Deleting it wouldn't do anything to affect Jimmy. He'd simply be free to do whatever he wished. To make sure Jimmy won't act recklessly, he needs to be bonded to someone else. Ideally, someone who has experience with him so he doesn't get out of hand..." 

Ghost didn't need any more explaining. He knew what Toast was asking him to do. It was time to take up Jimmy Casket again. There was no way around it. He was the only one who knew how to handle him from within. Even Venturian didn't really know how to _handle_ handle him like he did. Dread filled his heart. Ghost wished he didn't have to do this but, there was no other choice. If refused, nobody else could keep Jimmy down and he'd escape. This whole thing would happen again. That couldn't happen. He wouldn't allow it. He let out a heavy sigh, "I'll do it." 

"Thank you, sir. I know this is hard for you." Toast ran to Jimmy to get a prick from him.  
Meanwhile, Venturian walked up to Johnny Ghost, "This is very brave of you. I don't know how to thank you." 

"You don't have to," he smiled, "I got that bravery from somewhere." Jordan brought his creation into a hug. 

Toast returned with Jimmy's bond, "Are you ready, sir?" 

Ghost nodded, "Yes I am." Toast pricked Ghost's finger with the Soul Binder. The weight of Jimmy's madness was immediate and all too familiar. Fortunately, since they have less of a 'personal' connection, Ghost is able to stay standing. 

Johnny gripped his head, he'd never get used to this burden. At least, once they got back, nobody else could get hurt. Toast came to her partner's side, "Come on, sir, let's get you back home," she turned to the creators, who were still in a reveling bunch, "We're going to need to use the laptop at your home." 

"Why do you need it?" Bethany asked. 

"We need a way back," Toast explained, "I could only program the bracelets that Papa and Billy have to get us from our home to yours. Not the other way around." 

The siblings looked at one another, "Okay," Jordan shrugged, "let's get you home." 

\--

They decided to take the cars back. There was no need to risk a teleportation error. They've already pushed their luck far enough. The siblings got into one car, and the avatars spawned in another one to use. Cierra was driving, Jordan in the passenger, and Isaac and Bethany in the back. The car ride was quiet but, satisfying. It was all over. However, one concern sat on Isaac's mind, "What are we going to do about the charges?" 

It wasn't something that had crossed any of their minds beforehand. They had no time to think about it. Bethany did her best to shrug it off, "We'll figure something out." 

Cierra wasn't as confident, "I don't know," she started, "Do you remember the updates? Jimmy put Jordan on a lot of murder charges. If he's lucky, he'd end up in a mental institution for the multiple personality thing." 

"How bad was it?" Jordan asked. 

"Twelv _ish_ , I think. He had no mercy on those people." 

He bit his lip, "That isn't good. And I doubt anyone will believe us." Jordan sunk into his seat, "All those lives. I killed twelve innocent people. I wish I could've done more to stop him." 

Bethany put her hand on her brother's shoulder, "It wasn't your fault. I don't know how but, we'll get through it. We'll always be there for you, no matter the consequences." "Yeah," Cierra agreed, "Even if nobody else believes you, we'll have your back. You didn't want to hurt anyone."

"Uh-huh," Isaac added, "You're stuck with us!" 

Jordan smiled, "I wouldn't have it any other way." They spent the rest of the car ride in peace. 

\--

In the other car, things were a little more hectic. The two Johnny's were up in the front, Toast driving, and all four Acachallas were stuck in the back. Billy and Sally were fast asleep. At the car windows, their parents were 'cuddling' in the middle. To any normal person, it looked like they were angry at each other but, they each knew that their partner was happy. 

Papa Acachalla was finally happy to have his wife and, rather annoying, children together again without the threat of Jimmy Casket looming over their heads. They could all focus on being idiots again, happy, chaotic idiots. 

In the meantime, a little annoying voice was bouncing around in Ghost's head. Jimmy had woken up and was nagging Ghost, seemingly, with no end. _You just had to ruin my fun, didn't you? And I was having so much fun! You such a pain in the-_ Johnny was trying to keep his composure but the pressure Jimmy was inflicting on his head was unbearable. "Shut up!"

 Johnny Ghost shouted. Everyone in the car jumped at the sudden cry and Johnny Toast nearly swiveled off the road. She gave him a sharp look, "I- I'm sorry," Ghost apologized, "Just getting used to Jimmy again. Not that easy."

Toast sighed, "I know it isn't," she asserted, "Just hold on a little longer, sir. We should be there in about an hour or so." 

At this, the two kids jumped awake, "Another hour!" Sally complained.

"That's like forever!" Billy whined. 

Papa groaned, "For goodness sake, Toast, they just knocked themselves out!" 

"Sorry, sir." 

\--

The siblings were shocked when they got to the house. Everyone had gathered in Jordan's room, "Y- you can do that?!" Bethany stuttered. She was back in one of her wheelchairs. 

"Yes, we can, miss," Toast explained, "That sort of program exists between all worlds. Most worlds, you can manipulate what happens in that very moment. Unfortunately, we can only jump through the portal and, 'reset' time."

"How do you know that?" Cierra questioned. 

"I saw that on my way across. The original plan was to just manipulate the situation in the very moment if anything went wrong but, we can only pull it back to a certain time up to six months in the past. Apparently the physics of the zero world won't allow that. Too many paradoxes, I'm guessing." 

"Why didn't you tell us in the first place?" Isaac asked.

Papa Acachalla was swirling around in Venturian's chair, right by his laptop, the place where it all began, "Because, _Joan_ over here, is a forgetful little tea drinker." He retorted.

She glared at him, "Very funny, Acachalla." 

"I thought so." He shrugged. 

Toast returned her attention to the creators, "Well, what do you think?" she offered. 

"This can't be happening," Isaac plopped onto his brother's bed, "What's the catch?" 

"Nothing that I'm aware of," Toast answered. 

"Are you sure? All of this would just be over? Just like that?" Cierra snapped her fingers. 

Papa Acachalla bit his lip, "I can think of one thing-" 

Johnny Ghost chuckled, "You? Thinking?"

"Yes," he responded in an oddly serious tone, "As shocking as it is, I do know what I'm talkin' about every now and again," he pulled himself out of the seat to face the creators, Venturian in particular, "How can you remember something that doesn't happen?" 

Jordan gave Papa the eyebrow, "Why would I want to remember what has happened to me? I'd love to forget it."

"You'd love to-," He didn't know what to say. He spat onto the floor, "Fine, whatever! Don't let me stop you."

Gertrude approached her husband. What was wrong with him? Shouldn't Papa be happy for his creation? It wouldn't have to face charges for something he didn't really do. She didn't see the problem, "Honey..." 

"No, no!" He growled sarcastically, "He's the creator. Let him throw away the chance to become stronger person. Even though you could _really_ use it."

"Papa Acachalla!" She asserted, making her tough boy jump, "that is no way to treat a creator, let alone your own. Even though he made you doesn't mean you two are the same. You may both be a family men but, he has traits that he didn't put into you and you have some that aren't very him. Don't expect your creator to be just like you. Venturian doesn't ask for that. Give him some decency." 

Papa scoffed, "Me? A family man? Please." 

"Oh come on, I can see past all that. You would've left years ago if you actually wanted to," she leaned her forehead onto his, "I know you." 

Papa stood tall. Even though he didn't show how much her affection was affecting him, Papa could see his wife's point. There were fans and other people who have contributed to who he is. Besides, if Jordan was to be away from them for much longer, Venturian may become even more different than Papa than they were when he first appearance. 

Gertrude always knew how to tame him. Papa hated it but, couldn't help but love her because of it. She had a sort of strength Papa couldn't even imagine before they met. He sighed in defeat, "I love you." 

"I love you, too." She gave her husband a peck on the lips and a pat on the chest. She turned to the creators, "Do you want that reset? It is all up to you guys."

The Frye siblings looked at one another. The opportunity to erase all the troubles they've been through? Bethany's paralysis? The lives lost? How could they refuse? They nodded at one another, "We want that reset." Jordan announced. He bounced to the computer to download the famous game that had been removed from the family router: Gmod. As it was downloading, peace and nostalgia overflowed him. The Parakeet's Pill mod, the mindless yet fun skits, all of it, even Jimmy Casket. Finally, it downloaded and he opened the app, "Well, what now?" 

Ghost got up, "There isn't anything else to do. It's open, we just need to jump in," he dragged Toast to the computer, "It was a pleasure to work with you Vent." 

"Goodbye!" Toast said as they leapt back into their world. Gertrude followed, saying goodbye to BethanyFrye. Then Sally and Billy. They each gave their creator a bear hug.

Billy was much shorter than HomelessGoomba, being a twelve year old kid, so it just brought of feelings of youth he hadn't felt in quite a while, even before all of this began. Being nineteen, going on twenty, had made him forgetful of it. As Sally and Billy left, Isaac made a promise to himself, even though he was sure he wouldn't remember it, to hold onto that youthful feeling for a little while longer. He finally understood what it meant to have faith like a child. 

Finally, all that was felt was Papa. He stood there, ready to leave. Just as he was about to, he turned to Venturian. "Good luck, son. Looks like I'm the one hitting he reset."

"Will everything really be gone?" Venturian asked.

Papa shrugged, "Eh, pretty much. We'll still remember it and these 'memories' might pop into the head of one of your fans as a story idea. With some luck they may actually turn it into a fanfiction for you to read but, who knows?"

"Yeah..." 

He put his hand on his shoulder, "Hey, everything is going to be alright, okay? You're doing good. Keep at 'em." Papa punched his shoulder as he began to leave, "Keep at 'em, Venturiantale." Papa Acachalla returned to his world.  


	14. Epilogue: Pranks and Happy Endings

The computer screen flashed the results of the murderer winning again. With his siblings whining in the background, Venturian turned to the camera, “That, is all for this time. If you enjoyed this video of us bringing back the game of Muuuurder and me dominating the game like in old times, leave a like, leave a comment, and we’ll see you, next time.” He gave his classic salute and ended the recording.  


“Man! That was fun!” Issac cheered.  


“Yeah,” Cierra agreed, “No wonder our fans wanted this back.”  


“It's like nothing changed.” HomelessGoomba smiled, “Including Bethany’s ability to die first.”  


“Hey!” The ginger snapped, “I'm just out of practice.”  


“Sure you are.” Jordan laughs, “Anyways, let’s go to the kitchen. I'm getting kinda hungry.”  


“Same here,” Isaac agreed. Venturian ended the Skype call, closed Gmod, and got up. As he did, he heard a shrill, high-pitched laughter, startling him. _Thank you for bringing me back. I promise I'll return-_ The voice was cut off and there was a scuttle with some indistinct words he couldn’t make out. He could’ve sworn one of the voices sounded like his own.  


However, he was quickly distracted by the sound of something running into his door. Jordan was willing to bet good money he knew who it was. Isaac was always a bit clumsy. Venturian grabbed a nerf gun nearby and readied himself outside the door. When he least expected it, HomelessGoomba threw the door open, causing Jordan to fall onto his back in the hallway. Venturian managed to grab his younger brother by the shirt, bringing Isaac down with him. Each of the boys were laughing hysterically.  
Once HomelessGoomba got his barring, he went for the blow horn he came downstairs with and blew it in his brother’s face, causing a new wave of laughter between the two. The laughter calmed down a bit and Jordan went for his nerf gun, shooting Isaac in the arm, causing him to let out a little yelp.  


HomelessGoomba jumped back and began to run up the stairs to the main floor, “Come and get me, old man.” He taunted.  


“Oh, I’ll show you who’s getting old!” Jordan retorted, firing a few more shots at the staircase. Just as he was about to go after Isaac, Venturian stopped. He felt a little uneasy. Jordan turned to his bedroom door. Something wasn’t right.  


“You okay, Jordan?” Isaac asked. He had made his way over when he noticed Jordan wasn’t following him to the main floor.  


Venturian shook it off and grinned at his brother, “You just had to ruin my room, didn’t you?”  


“Ruin it?” Isaac snorted, “I didn’t touch your room. You’re the one who hasn’t cleaned it in a week!”  


“Coming from you! You haven’t cleaned your room since we’ve moved!” Jordan fired a few more shots at Isaac and out of ammunition, “Dang it!”

“Serves you right!” HomelessGoomba fake pouted, “Shooting at an unarmed kid.” He started up the stairs again.  


“You haven’t been a kid for about a year, now! You’re 19!”  


Isaac swung around on the staircase, “Getting old is a biological fact. Growing up is optional.” He swirled around and continued marching up the stairs.    


“You got that right.” Jordan agreed under his breath, chasing Isaac up the stairs, forgetting entirely about what happened in his room, never to be touched by the tortures of Jimmy Casket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me through this tale! Love you guys so much! This was so much fun to write! Don't worry, though, I have many more (original) tales ahead. Thank you for following me through this very Strange Tale of Jordan Frye and Jimmy Casket.


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